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

What does this question mean to me?Throughout the entire period that I have been studying media, we have always looked at forms and conventions of real media products, and the reasons why these are followed so religiously by media producers. However every now and then, these forms and conventions are broken and this is when ideas are pushed and developed further, creating an evolution of media. So this question is asking me;

-in what ways and for what reasons did I follow the norms of real media products?

-What advantages did I gain from sticking to these conventions?

-But also how and why did I break some of these real media conventions, in what way did I develop my promotional packed beyond any existing package?

Conventions of movies and short filmsBoth movies and short films follow their own conventions. These are the norms that are expected from a viewer which categorise a text into either a movie or a short film or teaser trailer etcetera.

The following slides will consider what these conventions are and how they are used in existing products.

They will also consider in which ways my short film has strayed away from or developed these conventions seen in the existing products.

Conventional Narrative in filmTodarovs theorem – One theory of narrative I by Tadarov. This is probably the most commonly followed theorem, especially within short films. The theory follows the idea that a narrative begins at an equilibrium. This is the stage of ‘social norm’ where characters are going about their every day business. The next stage of the theory is when we see a disruption to the narrative. This is when a situation occurs which is out of the every day social norm, creating a problem for the characters. This then leads to the characters setting out to solve this issue and put things ‘back to normal’. This part of the narrative completes the majority of the script and it is within this section that we see the climax of the movie, the part where the story is in full swing. After this stage, Todarov states that the problem is eventually solved, finally returning us back to an equilibrium as seen at the begging of the story.

One example of how Todarovs theorem is used - 2008 movie ‘Taken’.

1. Equalibrium – Audience see a normal father/daughter relationship

2. Disruption – daughter is kidnapped and the social norm is taken away

3. Climax – Father sets out to find daughter and murder her kidnappers, hitting the climax of the movie

4. Return to equilibrium - father finds and rescues his daughter, and life returns to normal, restoring an equilibrium

How does my narrative compare to the conventional narrative?

As in Todarovs theorem, the fluent in love narrative does begin at an equilibrium. It follows my character as he takes a walk in his natural environment and arriving at a country pub. The reason i chose to use this stage of the narrative is because I believe that it creates a sense of realism. It gives the audience a chance to build rapore with the characters and understand their environment, rather than jumping straight into this fantasy world and throwing my audience into the deep end before they can even understand my characters.

The next stage of my narrative, strayed away slightly from the conventional narrative. My character finds himself sat in the pub next to a female whom he is clearly attracted to, however he cannot build the courage to approach her. This indeed as stated in the theorem is a problem, how ever it is not so clearly obvious that it is a problem, and certainly not one that can be solved.

In the next stage of my narrative, my character try’s to build himself the courage to talk to the female however the narrative totally breaks away from Todarovs theorem when the climax approaches. My character finally speaks to the girl, however she is French and cannot understand him, proving the previous 5 minutes of the movie and of my characters life to have been a total waste of time. If my plot was to have followed the conventional narrative structure, then my character would have spoke to the girl, she would have replied and they would have fell in love and returned to a happy norm. However by using this ending I believe my narrative encounters many more emotions and tribulations than if it would have followed the norm.

Conventional camera shot sizes

Extra long shot - This is my establishing shot. I used an extra long shot in order to establish the scenery whilst including my actor. The use of this shot adds depth to the frame and prepares the audience for what is to come in the forthcoming shots.

Long shot – This shot enables my audience to see a full head to toe image of my character. I rarely used the long shot within my film as I believe it was only needed a few times to establish the characters however more intriguing shots could be used from then on.

Medium long shot – used very similarly to the long shot, this shot enabled me to move swiftly between the long and medium shots. Also moving in to a medium long shot brings the audiences focus more towards the action rather than the surrounding setting.

Examples of how my shot sizes have conformed to those of the previous slide

Medium shot – Provides an image of the upper torso and head. This shows full facial expression whilst also including body language. I often used this shot as a neutral base which I would regularly return to in between more intricate shots i.e.. Close ups.

Close up – A close up image of one particular aspect, usually a full head image. This shot is regularly used within my film, often as reaction shots to provide the audience with a full understanding of each characters emotion throughout.

Extreme close up – This shot focuses in on something particular, usually a facial feature. I used this shot a few times in my film in order focus on eye movement or smirks for example, it can also help to add humour to the narrative.

Examples of unconventional/innovative camera shots within my short film

Mirror shot – Here I created a shot that shown my actors real life silhouette from behind whilst also showing his face from within the mirror. We had to try a few different toilets to receive the correct lighting for the shot, then we took a low angle in order to include the camera in the mirrors reflection.

Crisp packet shot – At the point of my character reaching into the crisp packet, i wanted my audience to take the prospective of the crisps within the packet. I did this by opening up the packet from both ends and placing the lens of the camera in he one end. This was an extremely difficult shot to master as movement was a huge problem when the hand entered the packet however we was determined to get the shot as the packet reflected well from the light.

Beer shot – Whilst filming I thought it would be interesting to see if we could create an image of the bubbles rising in the beer. We used an extreme close up and created a successful shot. The reason i like this shot is the timing in which it was used. It stands as a metaphor for the rising tension and really adds to the awkwardness of the situation in a creative way.

Across the bar – We took this shot by placing the camera at a neutral level with the bar at one end, I then directed the actor to sit within shot at the other end of the bar. This enabled me to focus the lens on the immediate foreground across the bar, whilst blurring the background of the actor.

Over the shoulder – To create this shot i placed the camera behind my lead actress in order to capture both my actor and actress in the shot, This enabled the audience to see both characters faces and really captured my lead actors emotion as he glanced at the actress.

Floor level – In order to add another dynamic to the style of filming we wanted to play with the levels and this shot is directly from the ground. It follows the actors foot movement as he surpasses the camera and exits the toilets, enabling the audience to feel part of the scene and close and intimate with the narrative and the actors movement.

Close ups on particular objects – Throughout the film we included close ups of particular objects. This added an aspect of art to the film, creating interesting images. It also added to the narrative as it bought attention to particular objects and enhanced the suspense. It also was used so that the camera could take the characters prospective as they looked around the room in nervousness and awkwardness.

One sided shot – I included a few of these shots which capture a medium shot of the actor/actress baring towards one side of the shot. This is used so that the audience is refreshed from the harsher shots that are used and can relax whilst the narrative is slowed down.

Two shot – The two shot was the most commonly used shot within my short film. Although it is simple, we had to get the perfect shot, as this is where the narrative is built. From this shot we needed to include both characters full facial expression whilst been able to see complete body language. The fact that we lingered on most of the two shots really helped to develop the characters thoughts and enhanced the narrative.

Canted angle – gave a full front shot of the pub and provided added interest with the slight cant making the pub look quirky and out of the norm compared to the shots used in the previous setting.

Feet shot – I used matching close ups of both the actors’ and actress’ feet, this captured them both tapping their feet, creating a humorous moment for the audience to connect with.

Conventional sound in low budget film

Diagetic sound – within low budget short films, diagetic sound more than often comes straight from the microphone built in to the camera. However this usually provides quite sound, and picks up heavy background disruption and distortion.

This then creates an issue whilst actually filming, it means that settings often have to be changed to quieter surroundings and actors have to stand closer to the

camera than originally planned.

Non-diagetic sound – Non diagetic sound is less of an issue within low budget short films, however it is rarely used. When conducting research I found that many producers of short films use non diagetic sound for sound effects and a music track

overlaid.

Conventional sound within professional filmWithin professional feature films, budgets are higher and better equipment is

available. Boom mic’s and clothing mic’s are used and sound can be easily attainable to a higher quality from any distance in the frame.

How does the sound in my short film compare to conventional sound?

We began by recording the digetic sound directly from the in-build microphone in the camera, conventional of low budget short films. However the sound was quite and disrupted. For this reason we decided to keep dialouge to a minimum, by doing this we could over ride the sound. Using logic pro 9, we created an entire overlay of artificial sound. This created a crisp sound throughout. Full of sound effects and natural background noise it created a professional tone, without the high budget equipment such as boom mic’s. We also managed to include dialouge. We did this by recording it straight from the built in microphone in the camera and then enhancing it dramatically on logic pro 9 and then mixing it in to the overlay of artificial sound. Music was also used in the film, we used diagetic sound as though the music was coming straight from the juke box, the choice of music, maintained the mature style of filming whilst making the narrative quirky and attainable for a young and old audience. Reading on copy right laws, we found that we were able to include a theme song at the end of the film as the film is for student, internal purposes only and not to be sold to the public.Watching and listening back on the film, i believe i made the best decision available in creating the sound for the film. The parts in particularly enjoy are the precise sound of footsteps as the actor walks through the country park and also the change in the sound when the music muffles as he enters the bathroom to enhance the verisimilitude.