In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Introduction
For our A2 Media studies we chose the brief to produce a Short film with a Film Review and Film Poster. All three would need to be linked to form the brand and for it to be recognisable as a Walking Frame Production. Each of our three pieces fit together very well and fit with the codes and conventions of real media texts and current short films. The main focus in our film is the two characters meeting and their individual dreams about what a possible relationship might look like. The storyline is designed to build suspense. The characters, in the ‘reality shots,’ do not reveal their potential true feelings for each other but, in the ‘dream shots,’ the magic and love is obvious.
We chose to not have any dialogue in the short film due to the strong shot types and emotion the story line is very clear and understandable without the dialogue. Our film fits the codes and conventions of a Romance/hybrid short film with the main aspect being a romance. looking here will allow you to see the codes and conventions of a short film, Short Film Conventions. Here are a few of the shots that we used in our short film to show the emotion between the couple.
Shot Types
We began the film by looking at existing media texts to get some ideas for our shot types, CLICKING HERE will demonstrate this. In this we have chosen shot types that will fit our genre and have found specific shots that work well to draw the attention to both characters as there is no real definition as to who is the main character. We have mixed up the shots so the shots do not become boring and repetitive, we have used long shots to show the connection between the two character as they get closer and then have drawn the camera into their faces so the audience can see the emotion, this is typical for romance films to draw the audience in so it is clear that a relationship is growing. In our film we tried to capture the connection the characters have when they cross each others paths so we slowed the shots down to 50 percent. This technique demonstrates, to the audience, the idea of time literally slowing down and reinforces the romance.
When looking at shot types the key with them is to either withhold or release information to the audience. The shot types below show the key shots that show how information is released to keep the audience in suspense. The key is to not give to much away, the first shot is of the girls face but not showing any emotion this allows for the audience to notice that she is a woman but not to what she is doing. The next two shots is of the moment that both of the characters meet, in these shots lots of information is released showing that there is an immediate connection between the too people.
When looking at the edits that we have created you can see the connection between the two characters. You can also see how the information is hidden in the first shot where the characters face is hidden and you can just see the profile but when the connection between the two characters is established you can see the immediate look in their eyes.
The shots really relate to the genre and the codes that relate to Romance.
with these shots we have created good continuity editing allowing for the audience to feel part of the film and to not realise that they are watching a film but watching a real life event.
Narrative
We have really challenged the conventions of our genre in the dream parts of the short film. Each character has a dream about how their relationship could unfold and what it could be. None of the films we looked at took this approach, in most of the films the people are already in a relationship or the storyline is working up to them being in a relationship. The twist on our films adds to the magic of the love between the two characters, as you can see in the screen shots the dream side of the films fits very well with the romance genre.
In our first film we decided to film in two parts; a dream world and a reality world. We knew we wanted to stick with a dream element to our film as it draws the audience in and does not have to necessarily make sense or follow a specific route all it had to be is relevant to the subject. With the dream aspect incorporated into our short film the audience can take a break from wondering what is happening to get a clean understanding that these two people have a connection.
In the following few shots you see the couple return to reality and begin to wonder if they should stop and make something of what they have just imagined.
We wanted to generate a feeling of hope in the audience. It is typical in the genre we are targeting and the audience thrive off this. When the female character turns to look at the male character you can clearly see he is hesitant on whether to turn just in case she doesn't feel the same way. Finally he turns and the audience feel that something will happen between the couple but then are quickly shown the shot of the female character giving up and carrying on with her journey.
Ancillary Tasks
For our ancillary tasks I feel we met the codes and conventions of well known posters but also tried to use the theme of a very British standard film.
When looking at existing media such as the film poster for a British made film "Fish Tank" you can see that the fonts are clear and bold so as to make the poster look very appealing, the guerrilla style to the film is also related in the poster this keeps in with the theme of the film. We took this into consideration when producing our film poster but also wanted to add a Hollywood style blockbuster film poster to fit our genre of romance, we looked at existing posters earlier on in our research, Ancillary task research, here you can see other film posters we have related our work to.
when looking at our final film poster I think you can really see how we incorporated the British low budget made film poster but also the common link between the two characters that is shown in many romantic blockbuster films. we chose the title Split Differences to begin with and as a team we thought the name really reflected what happens in the film and how two people are completely different, when showing a few people the poster and allowing them to watch the film they did not really understand why the film was named Split Differences, after this feedback we decided to name it "Moment" we knew this was a more secure name because of the moment that happens between the two actors.
When looking at both of the posters in comparison I think they link really well with each other and the conventions have been met due to the simplicity of the fonts but also with the blockbuster style connection between the two actors.
When looking at existing film reviews we noticed that the colours are very bold we also noticed that the use of lines and intense detail where taken in the layout making it look professional. we decided to use columns instead of rows as when looking at existing media we found this was a reoccurring theme that was used. We used the title Shorts Reviews due to the fact we felt that it matched the criteria that we want to show to the audience.
