Media Product Evaluation

By Charlotte Gray

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

products?

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

products?We used conventions of actual films in our media products opening credits. We used idents; at the beginning of the film which is something that all films do, genuine ones were used to increase the professional appearance of the feature. We also intersected film footage with screens of titles which is also a commonly used device, being used in the film High Crimes (2002). We did this so that we could display the key information of cast and crew without drawing the viewers attention away from the actual happenings of the opening, for example by placing the names on top of the actual footage. Thus cutting to a black screen completely separated the credits from the film, whilst the font used still made the two aspects relative, and in correspondence to each other.

We added a dark filter to our film to create a more intense atmosphere than could be achieved with just normal lighting. This is conventional of thriller and horror films as dark lighting and general darkness can induce fear as it represents the unknown and you can’t see what is coming or what is going to happen until it does, for example in the thriller Hide and Seek (2005) and horror Cabin Fever (2002).

Our filter wasn’t so dark that it disorientates the audience like in the other films, but it was intended to set a tone so that even in the daytime shots it is apparent to the audience that it isn’t a happy uplifting film.

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

products?Our location choice also exercised the usage of film conventions. Usually films shot in London e.g. East London, Hackney - Bullet Boy, Inner West London, Ladbroke Grove – Kidulthood) are generally dramatic and urbanised such as Bullet Boy (2004) and Kidulthood (2006). Therefore we think the stereotypical genre of films shot in these places added to the urban feel of our film. Catford and Beckenham Station appeared aesthetically as dark and melancholy as we intended the film to be. Thus proving location choice to be successful and film conventions helpful when it came creating a certain atmosphere.

We used film conventions in terms of our camera shots. Predominantly we compiled the sequence of long takes to help both build anticipation and present the desolate nature of protagonist Abby. Our main influence was Brick which also has a lot of long takes

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

products?The voice over is a narrative device that is used in films of all genres. For example Clueless (1995), Precious (2010) and The Dust Factory (2004). We developed this convention by creating a voice over of a previous conversation between Abby and her mum Ellen. our partner had witnessed this tool being used in a few films she's seen, but to me this idea seemed completely original. Therefore in this case enhancing he films originality.

This is the trailer for Precious, the voice over heard in the trailer is representative of the voice over used in the film - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5FYahzVU44

We challenged films conventions by not abiding by the rule of thirds. Abby was always undoubtedly the most important aspect of each frame, however, we never positioned her to the left of the right of the frame; we constantly positioned her in the centre of the frame. This, we think was the easiest effective way to show just how important Abby was, to an audience than knew nothing about the film or its impending storyline.

We challenged film conventions in our opening by its very essence. The pace of it was very slow as it was compiled with a series of long takes. This was intended to settle the audience and introduce them slowly into the film; like in our main influence Brick. Nothing huge happens in our opening sequence, just Abby’s reaction to a huge event is shown, which is unlike most opening sequences. we think the fact that nothing drastic is intentionally included to capture the audiences attention, is what really captures it. For example, opening a film with an exciting event to entice the audience and the going back in time to the calm before the storm, for example, in The Butterfly Effect. The suspense created by the slow pace and lengthy shots, we think, bubbles anticipation within the audience and leaves them eager to know what is going to happen next.

This is the opening of the psychological thriller The Butterfly Effect (2004) my point is demonstrated in it -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxgeH8InR9g

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

products?We have also developed and challenged conventions through the presentation of our protagonist Abby, via clothing and props, which we have gone on to talk about more in the next question.

In conclusion in our sequence we managed to use, develop and challenge film conventions. Using them added tone and atmosphere easily to our project. Whilst developing them exercised our creativity and added originality to the piece. Whereas, finally, challenging them made the piece compelling and unlike any other.

How does your production represent certain social groups?

The only social groups we presented in our media product are teenagers as the protagonist, and only character featured in the film, was teenager Abby (portrayed by Katie Buxton).

Abby was intended to be approximately 17 as this is the age of the actress. She was also presented to be attending 6 th form/college, this was hopefully apparent from the fact that she was carrying a rucksack full of books and an art portfolio. We presented Abby this way to combat the stereotype that teenagers are rude, lazy and don’t care about education, the sort of stereotype presented in shows like ‘Skins’.

This is the opening theme of Skins, showing all the characters and theactivities they partake in - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Eq4I2nvIxM

Drowning in issues, alcohol and drugs...the cast of skins.

Abby Sanford VS Effy Stonem (Hunting Innocence) (Skins)

To show just how we have presented our social group of teenagers via Abby, I will be comparing and contrasting her with other teenage female leading ladies .

Here I will be comparing her with Skins’ Effy Stonem played by Kara Scodelario. Effy is a character presented in British drama Skins. She is in the same position as Abby; being roughly the same age and currently sitting her A levels – if you can call it that because she’s hardly ever in college and didn’t sit any of her final exams.

Effy is presented as dark, abrasive and although very strong willed in certain ways, incredibly emotional shunted; which effects her behaviour dramatically. She is depicted frequently smoking, drinking and taking drugs which are activities -it is hopefully implied - that Abby doesn’t partake in.

In regards to their appearance the actresses look similar, each having dark hair and eyes. Their costumes though, are very different which highlights the severe differences in their characters.

Merely the difference in their hand gestures represents the distance between these two characters.

Abby Sanford VS Effy Stonem

Effy is wearing a very revealing ensemble, there is hardly anything to it – this combined with the fact that she is wearing an abundance of jewellery and accessories reveals to me that she is uncomfortable with herself and thus feels the need to pile on loads of jewellery and parade around half naked to be noticed and get attention. Whereas Abby, on the other hand, you can tell from her outfit that she is much more comfortable in her own skin. She seems just as confident in the clothes she wears as Effy does, though she is the more positive presentation out of the two as Abby’s outfit is more socially acceptable than Effy's.

Effy, like Abby has been through a lot. With her brother being run over, leaving him brain damaged, and her parents divorcing after years of being unhappily married. The impact that these things have had on her are demonstrated through her, at the tender age of approximately 17, clearly teetering on the edge of a mental break down.

Possibly, this presentation of the female teenager in TV shows are exaggerated for entertainment and so can not be used as a realistic example of the average female youth. However this is the type of content broadcasted on stations, thus this is what teenagers are watching, and with teenagers and children being products of the things they watch on TV who’s to say that the character Effy Stonem isn’t the future for teenage girls? As bleak as that out look may be.

(Hunting Innocence) (Skins)

In conclusion, Abby and Effy look similar but their characters are polar opposites. Effy is a perfect example of the negative teenager stereotype; loud and abusive of substances, whilst Abby is much more positive; universal and inoffensive. Next I will look at Abby’s character compared to a leading lady in a film to see how and if the representation of female teenagers differ in big budgeted feature films.

I think both representations of the teenagers in these films depict the characters to have innocence, a certain vulnerability, by cause of their age. The occurrences of each film are set into motion through no fault of their own and this makes them easy to sympathise with. The murder of Abby’s mum had nothing to do with her just as it was not Bella’s fault – so to speak – that she fell in love with a boy who turned out to be a vampire.

Bella is presented in the film to be strong minded and strong willed, which are aspects that Abby would’ve been presented with as the film develops and she embarks on her journey. Both girls are presented positively to be quite sensible level headed teenagers.

In regards to gender both females break the stereotypical representation of women as they are depicted as strong individuals; they are confident, intelligent and definitely not shrinking violets.

To show just how we have presented our teenage character, we will be comparing and contrasting her with other teenage female leading.

Here I will be comparing and contrasting Abby from Hunting Innocence portrayed by Katie Buxton with Bella Swan from Twilight played by Kristen Stewart.

Both characters have a whole lot to deal with: Abby coping with the traumatic murder of her mother. Whilst Bella has to deal with the unusual complexities of her new life in Forks.

Abby Sanford VS Bella Swan (Hunting Innocence) (Twilight)

Abby Sanford VS Bella Swan (Hunting Innocence) (Twilight)

I think the gravity of Abby’s problem presents her as a more realistic and relatable character than Bella as Abby’s problem is more real and grounded. She’s lost her mother the only parent she knows, and so this is something that a greater amount of people could empathize with. Bella, on the other hand is caught up in the middle of a supernatural battle between vampires, as difficult as this may be, people cannot easily relate to the problem, as it is not real and would not happen.

The costumes of each character are similar in some ways and different in others. Bella’s clothing is looser and made up of darker more neutral tones, representing that she has a more of a tom boyish nature. Whereas Abby’s clothes are much more fitted and colourful showing that she is more bubbly in nature and feminine. Similarly, though, both girls costumes are layered and not revealing showing the respect that they each have for themselves.

In terms of appearance the two actresses look similar - having dark hair, dark eyes, and striking looks - suggesting they may attract the same type of audience.

In both photos the girls are on their way home from school. Their make up is minimal representing that in the morning before school they are more concerned about having the right books and all the equipment they need rather than beautifying themselves.

Additionally both girls have long hair which is styled simply; the length reinforces their gender and femininity, whilst the style reveals they are more interested in having practically hair do’s that don’t get in the way but enhance their natural beauty. In conclusion, Abby in Hunting presented as a strong character;

intelligent, resilient yet still feminine our presenting of a teenager combats the negative stereotypes put on the social group in today’s media.

The fact that all their names are shortened version of longer names (Effy/Elizabeth, Abby/Abigail and Bella/Isabella) represents that they independent and individual as they prefer to be called by casual abbreviations of their given names.

I have portrayed Abby to be unlike Effy, a teenager that abides by rules, she doesn’t drink, she doesn’t smoke, and she most certainly doesn’t take drugs. Abby is confident with who she is and dresses respectably.

Abby like Bella is universal, and could be related to by female teens all over the world.

Abby in the opening sequence is presented as inoffensive and respectable but at the same time quite mysterious. There’s only so much you can tell from her outside appearance and they say not to judge a book by its cover; so who is Abby really?

Abby Sanford; a teenager

Who would be the audience for your media product?

From analysing and discussing our target audience we determined that our primary audience for our media product would be middle/upper-middle classed females aged 18-25.

This is Tanya Brent; she is 24 years old and resides in London’s city centre with her boyfriend Adam in an apartment. She works as an ICT Consultant. She loves her job, but always looks forward to Friday as it is then that she dresses up and goes out clubbing with her girls.

She recently purchased a subscription with Virgin Media as her favourite shows come on satellite channels. She enjoys investigative TV shows, like CSI, Law and Order, Without a Trace and Columbo, she also likes medical programmes such as Grey’s Anatomy, E.R. and Holby City.

The main reason Tanya likes these shows is because of the insights it gives her into different professions. She loves that they’re so captivating and can leave lasting impression on you and thinks Columbo is the best detective of them all! She loves channel five and Hallmark because they always show marathons of CSI and Law and Order.

Tanya is an avid movie goer. She loves the whole experience; buying popcorn, choosing the perfect seats, watching the movie on a huge screen in the company of dozens of others who want to watch it too, and then keeping the ticket stubs as souvenirs - she is a very sentimental person.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Some of her favourite films are The Matrix, I Robot, The Bourne Ultimatum and The Island. However, when she wants to chill out and watch a much lighter film in content, she enjoys romantic comedies; with Just Like Heaven, Legally Blonde and Shallow Hal, being some of her most watched DVD’s.

Along with going to the cinema, Tanya enjoys shopping...like most women! Dragging Adam along to every shopping trip comes with the territory. She shops in Jane Norman, Topshop, H&M and Mango. Although, almost every shopping trip she also finds herself in HMV spending too much money on CD’s and DVD’s!

Tanya has a very broad taste in music and listens to Capital and Radio One. Her favourite music genres to listen to are pop, Rock and RnB music, and she never goes anywhere without her ipod.

i think Hunting Innocence would appeal to Tanya as it really encompasses everything that she likes about the shows she watches. It has the investigative element that she enjoys, with Abby searching through her family’s history to find out the truth about her mum’s murder. The insight into things she hasn’t and probably will never witness firsthand e.g. The drug trade; and finally it has a captivating protagonist, experimental soundtrack, and on the whole, the film should leave a lasting impact on her.

How did you attract/address your audience?We attracted our audience by incorporating a lot of themes into the film that are present and popular within our specified target audience.

At 18-25 youths are breaking free from their families and really finding themselves and their place in the world. Whether that is through moving away to university, finding a job and progressing in the workplace or moving into their own place. Breaking away is what Abby is depicted to do in the film. Granted, by cause of much more extreme circumstances, however, essentially the idea is the same. She’s out in the world alone, seeking answers to her heritage and mother’s murder. Therefore, this aspect of the film was identifiable by the target audience and thus attracted them to the film.

We specifically made Abby of a similar age to the target audience so it would be easy for them to identify and empathize with her, as they could imagine themselves in that position. This, in turn, would make the film much more engaging to the audience, thus attracting them as people of this age range need to be constantly stimulated; they don’t want to just watch a film they want to be apart of it, and having an identifiable relatable actress like Katie playing Abby makes full engagement possible.

Additionally 18-25 year olds are predominantly going to the cinema to watch films rated 18+. Features with these ratings are predominantly horror and thriller films. These ratings induce excitement and arouse a natural curiosity; they are instantaneously attractive to members of our audience as without even knowing the genre or storyline of the film, it seems compelling as the rating suggests it has content unsuitable for minors, which is something that always evokes excitement. The ways in which films such as these are advertised, like at night after the water shed when our target audience are watching television and on social networking sites can make the film seem like it’s exclusively for them. Making them feel catered for and thus making them eager to see the film.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product?

I think our product could be produced by a major Hollywood Studio, as it has a good storyline and themes that are similar to other highly successful thrillers. For example Changeling starring Angelina Jolie, directed by Clint Eastwood. The film follows single mother Christina Collins (Jolie) on the traumatic journey to find her missing son Walter, after being reunited with an imposter.

Changeling which was distributed by Universal Pictures, was released in 2008 and was quite successful. It was made on a budget of $55 million and more than doubled that figure in gross revenue, earning $112,994,004 worldwide..

A lot of Eastwood’s films feature the themes of ‘parenting—and the search for family...’ Hunting Innocence is similar to this, but this time it is the child searching for answers regarding her mother, within the family, and so I think it is a project that someone like Clint Eastwood could take on and make just as terrifyingly chilling as Changeling is.

Other films that followed these themes were Filghtplan (2005) and The Forgotten (2004), which were each equally successful grossing $223,387,299 and $117,592,831 respectively. Both films, like Changeling feature a female protagonist on a search to find their missing children.

However, the difference is in both The Forgotten and Flightplan the parents are reunited with their children thus ending the film on a high. Hunting Innocence and Changeling, however finish on a more depressing note as the protagonists are not reunited with their family; in Changeling there is an instilled hope that he will be found, though in Hunting Innocence any chance of Abby having a relatively happy ending are really obliterated within the first three minutes of the film as her mum is killed.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product?

Hunting Innocence is a film that I believe could be viewed by a huge group of people. All types of people could relate to it as it feeds into the anxieties and fears that reside within all of us; for teenagers and young adults, the prospect of losing their parents; and for parents having the mistakes they’ve made impacting and endangering the lives of their children after they’ve passed on. Although, its content may stop some people going to see it as no one really wants to go and see a film in which there is no inclination whatsoever of a happy ending.

I think that a film distributor such as Universal Pictures would distribute our film. Universal distributed Changeling which is a film i see Hunting Innocence potentially being as successful as and has distributed many other thrillers. i recognise Hunting Innocence could generally be very tough film to sell to any distributor or even film company as in terms of financial return, its chances of success are lessened as it’s content is rather depressing; with all that Abby goes through, only to be killed in the end.

Ultimately I believe that Hunting Innocence could be a successful thriller as it follows the conventions of other successful films in the genre. However the hard-hitting storyline could be a deterrent to potential viewers, producers and distributors, I think if any institution could see the potential within the story it would be Universal Pictures.

> Changeling Trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWXvbVXQHDU> Flight Plan Trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsGLpV0iWjg> The Forgotten Trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyDDcm5YSG4

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

• To edit our opening sequence I had to embark on the challenge that is iMovie! And being new to Mac’s in general, this made the whole task even more daunting. The process of editing was prolonged because even after being told things like how to cut using keyboard shortcuts ‘Apple’ and ‘T’ i would still revert to pressing ‘Ctrl’ and ‘T’ because i was so used to it, on programmes like Windows Movie Maker and Sony Vegas.

• After completing this product I would say I am much more Mac enabled than I was before I started this coursework and that I am able to navigate a Mac and iMovie.

Documenting the construction of this product also involved using Blogger. I was quite familiar with this website already but I learnt even more about how to use it during our coursework.

I have learnt a multitude of things about movie making software and equipment during the process of making our film.

I have learnt how to use a video camera, which is something we haven’t really come into contact with before. However due to production we can confidently use it and set it up on a tripod.

Also I learnt about using Apple Mac’s. Having being a solid Windows user for practically all my life, Mac’s were completely alien to me. Just getting to grips with the mouse was a challenge, but once I got used to it, and all the different keys and icons, it got much easier to use.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it

to the full product?I have learnt an indescribable amount between the completion of our preliminary task till now. I have learnt how to more confidently and efficiently operate a video camera, as well as iMovie and Apple Mac’s.

Since the preliminary task I have learnt the importance of filming sooner rather than later. In the preliminary task we were so excited to be doing something practical we began filming straight away and got all our shots in one session. This was an optimum position to be in when it came to editing as we had everything we could possibly need to put our film together.

In the actual task through unforeseen circumstances we were unable to finish shooting everything in the half term. This didn’t seem too worrying at the time as we still had plenty of time to film and piece together the film before the deadline. However, we each had little time available to us due to other commitments. The location of Beckenham Hill Train Station was problematic since after school when we were all free it would be busy with school kids and as it was winter daylight hours ran out...FAST! All of these aspect forced are filming sessions further and further back until finally we ended up filming the shooting the remaindering scenes the Monday before the Wednesday deadline.

Generally I learnt the importance of planning and filming as soon as possible otherwise you end up with your back against the wall.

In conclusion I have learnt a tremendous amount since the end of our preliminary task about planning, filming and media in general. It has been a pleasure completing my coursework and I feel I have made huge progress.