Main Task Evaluation

By Mary Juyan

In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge

forms and conventions of real media products?

• Our media film was based on a Sci - Fi genre, from our research we have found that Sci – Fi is a futuristic film based in the future. Also from my research found that in some Sci – Fi movies they follow the convention of outlandish costumes as they are set far forward in the future so therefore the costumes will be different from present day. However found other Sci – Fi movies such as inception and I am legend, the costume in the movie used is not completely absurd or disturbing to an audience and the costumes used can still be seen in the present. For our 2 minute opening sequence we followed the conventions of the costumes used in the sci-fi film inception as our film was not set to far in the future so a drastic change was unrealistic.

picture below showing a contrast in the costumes used in two sci – fi films inception and flash gordon

During my product research I chose the opening sequence to Inception and X

Men

This is a close up shot of a key character in the film, washed up by the sea

creating curiosity & mystery which as a Sci fi genre would aim to do. As already we are trying to figure out where the character has come from and why he is there.

Science fiction films are usually set in a futuristic setting, alternative universe, culture society, however some are set close to modern day. The locations where we set out our opening sequence was in a modern street society. During my research found that science fiction films that are set close to modern day were, also set in similar setting having close links to street and people within the society. Therefore by shooting our scenes around those setting created the science fiction convention in our media product.

In our opening scene we see Jack suddenly appear in front of Chantel where before we see him behind her. This could suggest to an audience that Jacks may have extraordinary powers following a sci fi convention. Similarly to the film inception where a character in the film is indicated to have incredible skills & knowledge.

We can identify straight away which character is under threat.

How does your media represent particular

social groups?

• Our opening sequence represents social groups such as teenagers. We can tell both characters are teenagers. Teenagers are usually associated with hoodies, gangs and trouble. our film backs up that idea showing Jack dressed up in a hoody we also hear him receiving an order from somewhere else indicating he is part of a group or gang. Therefore this film is representing teenagers as troublesome.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media

project and why?

Our media product is an opening sequence to a Sci Fi film, therefore it would be more likely to be distributed in the film industry. From my research and looking at similar films from the same genre we saw that Warner Bros was the institution that distributed Inception. Therefore having Warner Bros distribute our product, will help our product become much more successful, people can relate to films in the same institution from the same or similar genre. However as Warner Bros have a worldwide reputation it is harder to get into whereas as an institution such as Film Four has a national reputation which we would have a much higher chance of our product being distributed by Film Four.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Our target audience would be an age range of 16 to 34 year olds predominantly teenagers. I feel this is the age range that can most easily relate to teenagers and are most likely to be interested and understand this genre. I feel because the characters in the film are in their teens, appeals more to the teenage market.

our product is more likely to appeal to a lower middle class audience as the styling and the speech of the characters are less likely to appeal to an upper class audience.

How did you attract/address your audience?

The audience is immediately attracted as our opening sequence goes straight into the action of Jack walking down the road seen talking on the phone. This grabs audience attention as to what he is saying which sets of the film. Also in the scene Jack appear to follow Chantel which creates tension and suspense when she turns around however does not see him with eerie music. The audience may take side with Chantel as she is female therefore may be more vulnerable towards a male character.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of

constructing this product?

from the construction of this product using programme technologies such as Final Cut Pro we learnt how to piece together & cut out parts of the film which was irrelevant, to achieve our final product. Final Cut also allowed me to add effects such as a fade where necessary. From the programme motion I learnt how to add titling effectively into our product and to select appropriate font & effects.

During the shooting process we had to handle equipment such as camcorder, microphone, boom pole, headphones, tripod. As the result of previous experience with equipment from the preliminary task we had knowledge as to how to use and set up equipment efficiently.

Programmes used for the edit of our film which was done by Patricia our groups main editor:

• Final cut pro

• Motion

• Garageband

• Screen shot of final cut

Screen shot showing our video clip on Final Cut

ready to be edited

• Screen shot of motion & GarageBand

Screen shot of the programme motion

where I experimented with some effects for the titling of our film

Garageband allowed me to create my own

music

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have

learnt in the progression it to the full product?

In media, firstly I have learnt that teamwork was an important part of the project. My teams contributions of camerawork, effort and editing produced our final product.

Preliminary task gave me the opportunity to familiarise with the equipment and to try different equipment. In the preliminary I was not yet used to the equipment & programmes also was not familiar with all the camera shots yet. The preliminary helped to save time consumed in our main task on learning the how to use the equipment and learning how to use the editing programmes. While I was doing the preliminary I was not completely certain of how to add music to our film.

Looking back from my preliminary task and at my final product I can see I how much I have progressed in both editing and filming. I have learnt the different camera shots & and how to achieve different shots using the camera. I also learnt how to add transitions, cut scenes, and reduce or increase the volume of sounds. Also I learnt that I needed to download tunes first then import on to my film. Finally I have learnt the importance of planning before carrying out a project.