In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My media product uses similar forms and conventions to real life media products because the story revolves around a killer on the other side of a phone call and this is a commonly known plot structure, used in a lot of thrillers. We have also used a number of different shots and angles such as P.O.V (made famous by Alfred Hitchcock) and medium shots. This creates elements of suspense and tension and the P.O.V shot highlights the fact that the character is being watched.
However, I believe our media product challenges conventions of real media products in terms of characters and race. In thrillers it is usually the black character who is killed first, however in our media product there are two other black female characters, one of them who may also die but this is left for the audience to decide. Furthermore, black characters usually do not play a central or main part in a thriller; a white character usually dominates this role.
Lastly, my media product uses similar forms as other media products because of the music used. It’s very eerie and creates suspense, which is what we were aiming for.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our media product consists only of teenagers and they they portray some aspects of character representations. However they do not fit the usual stereotype of teenagers in films, which associates them with sex, drugs and violence. Instead, Alex the main character is quiet and keeps to her self. She doesn’t have many friends so could possibly represent the ‘outsider’ stereotype of some teenagers and two other female characters in the film present a naive attitude, a popular personality trait for teenagers.
Furthermore because Alex is a black female she does not fit the stereotype as loud and violent since this is how black people are sometimes portrayed.
Our media product also represents women in a way they are usually portrayed in thrillers; the victim, almost like a damsel in distress, as she is in need of help however there is no one to save her.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I would like our media product to be distributed in cinemas but before this can happen our product would require more work in order to improve the quality of it. A lack of high tech production equipment and a big enough production team means our film remains too low budget to be shown in a cinema. Instead, it will be distributed on the Internet because it is a cheap and more efficient way to do this. Also many teenagers use the Internet so distributing this way would gain the film recognition and thus increase the target audience.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
Who would be the audience for your media product?
The target audience for our media product will be teenagers because from our market research we found that they are more interested in thrillers than any other age group and watch them most. We also found that they enjoy watching thrillers because of the violence and suspense in the scenes.
We have rated our film a certificate 15 because we think this is a suitable age for our film. The violence in the film would not be suitable for someone as young as 12, for example, therefore rating it a 15 seems like the most appropriate choice.
How did you attract/address your audience?
We have rated our film a certificate 15 because we think this is a suitable age for our film. The violence in the film would not be suitable for someone as young as 12, for example, therefore rating it a 15 seems like the most appropriate choice.
How did you attract/address your audience?
We attracted our target audience by using only teenagers in our film. In our opening scene, it revolves around only teenagers which allows the audience to know that this is what the film will be about and involve. By using teenagers in our film it will appeal to our target audience because the characters represent their age and possible personality traits. Audiences like the idea of relating to characters so the fact that we have used teenagers will encourage our audience as they are teenagers themselves. Another way we attracted our audience was posting the film on popular social networking sites such as Facebook and it was also put on Youtibe.These sites are widely used by thousand of teenagers so presenting it on them will aid in attracting and addressing the target audience.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
During the process of constructing our media product I learnt that cameras and media software can be quite difficult to work with. It is hard getting the right camera shots and angles in order to create a scene and portray the right mood. The type of shots and angles used determine how our audience will interpret the film and characters so getting them right was very important. We had to make sure the film was interpreted in the right way, this meant portraying scenes and characters in the appropriate way. Music played a big part in this as this is what sets the mood in a film, including creating tension and adding suspense. making sure our continuity was right was also hard because this is what makes scenes flow and make sense of one another. We lacked alot of it and the beginning of the process but after carefully viewing our film several times and re filming we managed to get it right. One important thing I learnt was what software to use when constructing certain aspects of my film such as Adobe Premiere Pro CS4. This software was dominantly used throughout the process when editing, adding music, importing and exporting files, so learning how to use it was very beneficial.
Looking back at the preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I feel I have learnt how to use various camera shots and angles, as well as being aware of how to edit a film correctly. This involves using continuity, adding music and special effects such as slow motion.
Furthermore, I am now aware of how to export and import files with certain software such as Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 and photo booth. My understanding of how to attract a target audience has increased including what it involves in order to make a film successful. For example, Conducting market research is very important because you need to know what is going to appeal to your audience. After doing the research I know what teenagers look for in a thriller film and why they enjoy watching them. It's important to make sure your characters can relate to the audience as this keeps them interested in the film.
Furthermore, I am now aware of how to export and import files with certain software such as Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 and photo booth. My understanding of how to attract a target audience has increased including what it involves in order to make a film successful. For example, Conducting market research is very important because you need to know what is going to appeal to your audience. After doing the research I know what teenagers look for in a thriller film and why they enjoy watching them. It's important to make sure your characters can relate to the audience as this keeps them interested in the film.
