Evaluation- draft one

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

A thriller genre has a number of conventions for example, suspense, tension and twists within the plot. My film a Tainted love uses all three of these however it does also challenge many conventions. A Tainted love is about an assassin who had been assigned to kill a man, who she must pretend to be in love with. The overall plot for my film is also very conventional as it builds up suspense throughout with the use of music that adds emotion and tension to the scenes. The pace of my music is very slow but build’s up to add drama and show that something is about to happen that will be significant to the film itself. Another typical convention for a thriller is the use of my transitions that I have edited in to my film to connect my scenes together. To add drama and suspense the transitions are incredibly quick in some places to match the pace of the music, I also added pauses, for instance when you hear the gun shot the scene will change quickly to being pitch black leaving the audience guessing or wondering what exactly is going on. The while idea of my film is to unravel a story that will shock the audience, this therefore will portray the genre of a thriller. My media product has also developed some conventions of real media products for example, ‘Mr and Mrs Smith’ which is a film about to professional assassins who have been given the case to kill each other. As the plot unfolds they find out that it is fact each other that they are trying to kill and comes down to identifying whether they should choose their career or each other. I have used this thriller to come up with my own, by developing my character, Sophia to being the assassin I have given her a vulnerable side that is demonstrated when she is being shown in love with Jack in the beginning scenes, which is very similar to how the Mr and Mrs Smith characters were shown at the beginning. I also used a variety of props such as guns, costumes and cars in which I could create a background and realistic setting to film my thriller a tainted love. My media product has also challenged typical conventions of the thriller genre, one being that the assassin is female. I decided to use a female assassin to add something different and wanted the challenge to create a character with characteristics that were very uncommon and difficult to get exactly right. I wanted her to come across on scene as very strong yet also portray a softer side which I feel I have accomplished. I also used a romance scene which can been as very unconventional however this helped my plot and therefore develop a twist to the film which would unfold in the final scenes of my film.

How effective Is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

Using both my article and my poster will help to entice my target audience which is 15-40 years old of both men and women. My ancillary texts hold the interests of this group of people as well as extracts from my thriller genre. The combination of them both is very effective as both represent the genre and tell the story without giving to much away, leaving the audience guessing and wondering what will happen. My poster is there to promote my film and intrigue people to watch it. It shows my character Sophia, looking into a mirror and her reflection looking back at her. I decided to us this photo as it connotes that there is two sides to her which she is starting to uncover. Although this poster will not give much a way it’s very eye-catching with the use of my photography as well as the title which has been created in a specific font which matches the typical conventions of a thriller. The title is also in red to demonstrate blood and death. My poster connects well with my film as it show’s sides to Sophia in order for my audience to feel connected with her. My article contains snippets from my film to build up any interests that my audience will have towards my film. It will also leave the audience asking questions and wanting to watch more. My article contains images both advertising my film as well as ‘telling a story’ to interest my target audience. It works effectively with the film itself as well as the poster for instance; I’m using the same font for both my poster and my article. It contains a detailed analysis of my character Sophia as well as a one to one interview with her to give the audience a chance to get to know Sophia and therefore will make them watch the film. This connection that they will gain with my character Sophia will mean that they feel automatically more engaged in the film itself, making it more realistic and more effective.  They both combine well with my final film my ancillary texts act as a template in which I can build the main picture of my thriller film.

What do you feel you have learnt from my audience feedback?

When I showed my first draft to the class it had no transitions, no lighting effects and hadn’t edited my audio or my voice overs. However I did get good useful feedback from my audience. They commented on the usefulness of my shots and how I had framed them. They also liked the story I was telling and it reassured me that my target audience would understand and enjoy my film. I did get critique on my audio as I hadn’t edited it to match the pace of the scenes and it wasn’t lined up precisely with the rest of my shots. They did back this up with another complement with the use of my script and the way my story is told just as well through my audio as it would be visually. I got some incredibly useful advice on what I should use in terms of music and what transitions I should us and where. The audience feedback was effective and did help me in terms of moving on to my next stage of edition; by showing it at such early stages in the editing process also meant I could re-film shots or change any shots that the audience didn’t like. For example I did film opening scenes which I based on American horror story which is all about creating an atmosphere of suspense and creating a template in which I can the begin my opening scenes. My film was also not 5 minutes and therefore being given the advice to film some opening shots it enabled me to fill in extra time but effectively.

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

I used media technologies throughout making my film; this covered the construction stages right up to the evaluation stages. In my construction stages I edited on final cut which was very easy to use. I also used a sony HD camera in which I used to film my footage and used a microphone to record my evaluation and other audio that was needed.