Evaluation- Script

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
In our final media product, Evasion, we utilised, developed and challenged many different forms and conventions of typical media products.  The first convention of the action/thriller genre that we used was the use of fast-paced cutting speeds throughout our film. From the first few shots to the final escape, our film utilises typical fast cutting speeds used in films such as District 9. Another convention that we used was the use of obstacles, this is something which is typically used in chase scenes to show the desire to escape and add more action to the scene.

A convention which we developed from viewings of real media products such as The Wild Bunch was the use of black and white freeze frames to introduce the titles, however we decided that this didn't fit with the atmosphere of an action film, so we developed this by slowing the clip down along with the black and white effect when bringing on the titles, so that it didn't take away from the speed and intensity of our film.

We also challenged some typical media conventions in our film, as we filmed our media product during the day, challenging the typical convention of an action or thriller film using darkness, such as Watchmen. We think that using the light not only allowed for better quality of filming, as we don't have the level of equipment required for filming in the dark, but it also sets the scene, showing the protagonist in a rural area, somewhere typically not associated with action. Another convention which we challenged was the typical use of white text on a black background. We subverted this by inverting the colors, so that the background came from a smooth transition with the company intro.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

 Our media product mainly represents the social group of young adults. This is immediately shown by the use of mise-on-scene in the clothing of the two characters- both are wearing typically teenage clothes, and this helps to create a sense of curiosity with our protagonist and antagonist, we don't quite know why they are chasing each other and the fact that they are teenagers suggests a typically urban crime has been committed. Teenagers are generally represented in film as being violent, and in our film the obvious action and conflict between the two characters helps to show this, with the protagonist and antagonist chasing each other for an unknown reason. The setting also causes some confusion when showing our teenage social group, as typically a film such as this would be set in an urban area to reflect the urban teenagers who we cast as the characters, however our film is set in a rural area with these typically urban teenagers, representing them as out of the ordinary and creating enigma's about why the characters are in this location. Another way we represent this social group is through the use of the agility and dexterity of the two characters. The use of the stunts shows the protagonist and antagonist as young and physically fit, as they can chase each other and perform stunts which an older person would not, helping to represent this teenage group.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Our media product is one which would most probably be distributed by a British independent film company, as it doesn't fit with typical conventions needed to be a blockbuster, such as Casino Royale, which was distributed by Columbia Pictures. Typical blockbuster action/thriller films use conventional stereotypes such as a clear linear story, and is often more cinematic and explosive than our film, which is gritty and not as polished. In our film we have tried to challenge some conventions, so our film would most likely not be taken on by big American film studios such as Paramount and Warner Bros. These studios are looking more at making profit than taking risks so will go for a safer, more familiar film which is certain to generate as much money as possible, unlike independent British film distributors, who are willing to take risks on new and exciting content, as they aren't as bothered about generating an audience and making profit. Some examples of British film distributors that are likely to take our film on are Film4, who have distributed films such as Attack the Block, The Inbetweeners Movie and Momentum Pictures, who distribute films such as the highly successful The King's Speech and Law Abiding Citizen. We feel that these companies would be much more suited to our film, as we have tried to avoid and subvert typical blockbuster conventions, for example making the setting rural instead of a big city and using two British actors.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for our media product would be mainly boys between the ages of 13 and 19, this is due to the action/thriller genre of our film and the conventions associated with this that are used in the big hit blockbusters such as James Bond. The reason our audience is in this age range is because of the fast pace adrenaline rush associated with the film which is something that teenage boys commonly like.

How did you attract/address your audience?

Our media product attracts members of our target audience because of the genre, plot and characters. The genre that we used allows typical conventions to be followed that appeal massively to our audience. The use of fast pace editing and a wide variety of stunts is something that is commonly used in similar blockbuster titles and attracts our audience as it is cool and allows them to idolize the character. Our plot is also something that attracts our target audience, due to the vague introduction into the story, it entises the audiences curiosity and leaves an impression of crime, something which is a big part of what our target market is interested in. Finally our casting of characters in our film is another part that plays a major role in attracting our audience, as stated before the audience like to idolize the protagonist so by casting a protagonist that is a teenage character within our audiences age range, it allows them to idolize him as he is already a closely relate-able character.

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

We have learnt a lot during the production of our media product about the technologies we used. An immediate aspect of our technologies that we noticed was just how difficult it is to film in certain weather conditions with the quality of our camera. As we were using a reasonably old camera, in our first attempt at filming the fog gave us a tough time and made it a lot harder to film as distance shots were simply impossible as the characters disappeared in the fog. We quickly decided we needed to reshoot and reshot on a clearer day so that we could get the best image quality and atmosphere for our finished film. Another thing we learnt about our technologies was how to utilise Sony Vegas to edit our film. Both of us were involved in the editing of our film, so we had to learn our way around Sony Vegas and learn how to use features such as slow-motion to ensure our film came out as well as possible. Because we had such a short turnaround on our film, we had to make sure our editing was up to scratch and the effects we wanted would be implemented, luckily I (Tom) had Sony Vegas on his home computer so could do some of the editing at home. We also learnt that moving shots are very hard to pull off without professional equipment such as camera dolly. We attempted to get some over-the-shoulder and POV shots, but without this professional equipment we simply cannot get stable and clear shots suitable for use in our film, something we will definitely remember for next time we film. Overall, both of us learnt a lot about the variety of technologies we used in the process of making our media product, and we hope we can take these skills forward for our future media products.

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

In the progression from our original preliminary task to our final media product we have learnt a lot about many different areas of media production. In our preliminary task, we had a much bigger group, which was good for splitting the workload between us but, after splitting into a much smaller group for our final media product we have learnt that smaller groups are much more practical, as you can convey your idea's much better, and all members of the group have to pull their weight to ensure successful production of your media product. Another thing we have learnt in this progression from our preliminary is the importance of location and setting when filming. Our preliminary was filmed in our school, which, while practical at the time, simply doesn't cut it for a professional media product. We made sure that our final media product was set in the best location possible for our film and was practical for the stunts and jumps we wanted in our chase scene, something both of us will take forward for future media productions. Another significant progression from our preliminary to the final product is the increase in the complexity of editing of our product. In our preliminary film we used few features of Sony Vegas as we didn't have enough experience with the program to use all the features, however in our final product we have utilised many more features of Sony Vegas, for example our text effects and the black and white effect over some of our clips. Overall we have progressed significantly from our preliminary task(s) and we can utilise the skills we have learnt in other media products.