(Q1)

IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

We have used natural camera movements, often in the style of a handheld camera movement, which is a common

feature within comedy films such as ‘The Hangover’. Using the natural camera movement allows the film to flow better, allowing the audience to focus on the comedy rather than

keeping up with the camera work of the film.

We have also used medium shots or close up’s within the film to show the characters expressions, an example of this

is in the Train Station scene, however we have used it in this scene in particular in order to connect with the

audience. The direct mode of address when Beth looks into the camera, adds to the comedy element of her character,

which is portrayed to be the “silly” one.

I believe this is done effectively due to my audience response to the film. The shot itself is seen in certain

comedy programmes such as ‘Miranda’ and this has been identified by the audience therefore I believe this to have

been a successful idea.

Direct Mode of Address in ‘Miranda’ Direct Mode of Address in my film

I have added Foley sounds during the editing process of the film, this was what I found to be a very key feature in many comedy films, dating right back to the 1930’s. Foley sounds

are used in every genre of film however in comedy films, this tends to be music to the scenes or little noises such as

a slap or a kick.

Within my film I have added music over the top of the scenes in order to create a comedic element that is so

commonly found, however I believe that I could have done this more effectively and in a more comedic way by adding more ‘slapstick’ comedy moments and sounds within the

film.

There is a lot of high-key lighting within the film and all scenes minus the first party scene are set in the daytime,

another common element of many recent comedy films. The high-key lighting usually comes from a natural light source within a comedy film, as many films are set outside and our

film follows this common characteristic, as we filmed during a nice summers day.

An example of the high-key lighting within my film.

I believe this was done well as everything appears very bright within the film, adding to the overall happy nature of

a typical comedy film. During our film we used very few props, this was because we believed that we should focus

purely on the dialogue comedy rather than the props element of comedy however many comedy films do use props, especially ‘slapstick’ comedy films. By not using

props as much as some comedy films we have challenged this comedy convention however I believe this works well

within the film, due to the dialogue comedic language used.

We have also used the three stereotypical comedy characters that we discovered when researching comedy films, in particular Jon Lucus’ film, ‘The Hangover’. We discovered there were usually three types of characters within comedy films; a silly character, a serious/smart

characters and just a regular person character.

We decided to incorporate these three characters and as you can see clearly; Sarah is the serious/smart character who tends to take control of the situation, Imaan is the

regular character however we did adapt her to have elements of a lazy, careless character and Beth is the silly

one, who is the cause for the party which resulted in losing Steph, along with wearing a Giraffe onesie and making silly

comments.

I think that this works well within the film because it allows the characters to show their true colours however despite their differences we see that they can work together to put the pieces together in order to find Steph. I also believe it states a message that no matter your differences, whether your personality, differences or preferences, you can work

with others to achieve something, in this case finding somebody.