Evaluation Activity 1

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

Our opening sequence that was created was kept fully relevant to the style of film it is. The film we made was an action thriller, spy’s based film. The first thing that the audience see is a dark black screen; this is good because it starts to create suspense about why the screen is black. It creates mystery and tension. This is relevant to action thriller based films because they are always creating tension within the audience to drag them straight away into the film. The second frame show's two weapons which is a very common thing in action films, weapons. This scene was put in to make the audience think about what is happening and what may happen. The dizzy feel and the motion blur to the film makes the audience think that they part of the film due to the point of view shot. The weapons make the audience think who's are they, why are they there, what is going on. These questions are automatically put into the minds of the audience, this is good because it allows the audience to be drawn into the film straight away just because of the opening sequence by the first frames which appear. This is seen in many action and mystery style films, a excellent way to draw in the audience with the opening seconds and keep them attached throughout the film. The next frame is of the title which shows which company has made of the film, this is important because it allows the audience to straight away to know who has produced this film. This is done in many films, after seconds or minutes of the film, that's when the title's come into place. The fourth fame is of a date, the audience will not be aware of what this date represents but they will start to think about it, they will have a image in their mind of when the film is set which helps them get a better understanding of the film. Dates and times are used through variety of action based films, they are switched back and forward to show if the film is skipping time or moving back in time. This is what our opening sequence does; it allows the audience to know that the film is going back in time.  This is another factor that conforms to the line of media product that we created. Frame is is of a unknown character at this moment, which the audience at not aware of. This is seen in alot of actions, thriller based films, the bad guy is shown for a brief moment but not told aything about. The villains are shown without anynames or identity which creates more suspence in the film. This is another factor which conforms to the real media products. The individual seems to be wearign smart clothes which make the individual seem like a wealthy criminal, which conforms to the basic mafia films. Frame six is of a individual in a chair who is being tortured and is full of blood. This scene is used to make the audience feel sympthay for the individual in the chair staright away, this is maybe the victim of somsort. This is seen in many films, they make the individauls they want to seem innocent and victim's by using them in opening scene's to create a character behind them and introduce them to the audience. This seventh frame has been used to show positioning of the individuals. The point of view shows the villain right above the victim, this makes the villain seem like a menacing character and a superior person. High angle's are used in many action, thriller films. This is how our film is relevant to other real life media products. Next, its a match on action close up onto the watch. The watch is a rolex so it shows that the person who is the owner the main villain. So this expensive watch shows that the individual is not a low level criminal, he has money. Moving on, the last frame is of the bad guy looking down at the victim this shows superiority, the shadow over the main person shows that he is a shady charcter and the light on the victim makes him stand out to show his innocence.

Screen grabs of main task

Sorting out the audio

Audio work

Cutting frames and shots

Research Evidence

Rough cut

Effects test

This was a short video we created in order to test the muzzle flash effect, this was done via After effects, and here are the results, after doing this we noticed that a good effect can be created.

Monarch

Representation of age is shown through variety of micro-elements which i will be going through in detail in the  up coming paragraphs. I will be talking about Camera work, angles and movement, editing, sound and Mise en Scene. 

Camera Work, Angles and movement

High angle is used as a camera-work technique to represent age in the first minute. This is shown when Paul starts talking to Amy and the camera is pointing up towards Paul and downwards towards Amy. This camera angle highlights Paul as being a superior character. This conforms to the stereotype of elderly people being superior to youths. Moving on, Camera angles have been used to levels of superiority due to age. This is shown when the two adults headmaster and Paul are speaking, the camera stays on the same level when switching. This shows that they are both  equal in importance. This conforms to the stereotypes of elderly people treat each other equally. Movement has been used to represent age. This is down by the quick, dramatic movement by Amy when she is told off. This represents Amy as a immature, arrogant character. This conforms to the stereotype of youths being naive and ignorant. Camera angles are also used to represent age. This is when Amy gets out of the vehicle after hitting the headmaster, while standing next to Paul purposely the perfect composition has been used to only show Amy slightly and Paul mostly. This has been used to show superiority of Paul over Amy. This conforms to the stereotype of elderly people being superiority to youths, also that males are more superior to women. Moving on, a long take has been used to show Amy in the vehicle attempting to start it, this is combined with a close up shot to clearly show the expressions and emotions of Amy which may be purposely done to create tension. This conforms to the stereotype of youths being suspicious and mysterious. Next, a tracking, mid shot has been used to represent age of the elderly women. This is done by showing the short distance the elderly women ran before getting out of breath and wheezy. This conforms to the stereotype of elderly being slow and unhealthy.

Editing

In the first scene eye-line match has been used to represent age and superiority. When Amy and the young boy are speaking a non-diegetic sound of Paul interrupts them which catches their eyes, and the camera follows with a quick razor cut. Razor cuts have been used to speed up the pace of the conversation between Amy and Paul. This represents  Amy as being live and energetic  This conforms to the stereotype of youth being full of energy. Long takes have been used to represent age of the headmaster. The long takes slow down the pace of the conversation between Paul and the headmaster which in-turn represents the headmaster as cool, calm and collective. This conforms to the stereotype of elderly being sensible and reasonable. A montage has been used to represent age. A slow montage has been used when the workers are shown to show their hard work and dedicated. This conforms to the stereotype of elderly being good team workers and dedicated to their work.

Mise en Scene

Clothing is a very important factor when it comes to Mise-en-scene. In this clip Mise-en-scene is used to represent age. The denotation of Amy are that she is wearing modern clothing, tight jeans, trainers and top. Which connotes that she is a new generation person compared to the other individuals inside this extract. When looking at the older people inside this clip, the denotes are that they are wearing dull-colored dirty coats, welly s  and checkered shirts or even plain trousers. This shows they are from a older generation and they do not  care about what they wear and how they look. Moving on, when the older woman enters Amy's room you can straight away notice that a teddy bear is there, this connotes that the room belongs to a younger person because they are more into their toys and fluffy items which conforms to the stereotypes of younger people being immature and child-like. Mise en scene has also been used to represent age. The denotations of Amy run-=away letter is the fancy, pink colored writing. This connotes that a youth has written it. This conforms to the stereotype of youth girls liking pink and fancy things.

Sound

While Paul speaks to different individuals in this extract the pitch and volume of his sound varies  For example, in the Office scene the male is speaking calm and sensibly, however when  Amy arrives his voice raises and gets harsher and Amy stays quiet. This shows the superiority of older people to younger which conforms younger people are inferior to older people. Moving on, a calm and smooth soundtrack has been used to represent the workers. This shows that the workers are good team workers. This conforms to the stereotype of elderly being hard-workers.

OCR G322 Monarch of the Glen Extract (Age)

In this post i will be explaining and discussing the extract 'Monarch of the glen' and how age is represented using various elements.

- Camera work, angles, and movement.

First thing i noticed when looking at this clip, whenever the main male talks the camera always goes back to him, keeps switching which shows that the male in the blue jacket is more superior than Amy. Next, when the next scene comes of Amy getting out of the vehicle after hitting another, when the main male comes to the scene, using perfect composition you can see the male is the tallest, and if you look closely most of the characters faces are only seen where on the other hand the main males most of the body can be seen also. This is used to show that he is the superior one and older. Which conforms to the stereotype of male's being superior to female and that older people have more authority over younger. Slightly before this scene, A long take is used to show Amy in the vehicle attempting to start it and move up. This has been used for age representation and give hints that something is not right. This is because the long take keeps focusing on Amy and her expressions which may purposely be visible to create tension. Next, there are two different types of representation at two different stages of the clip, one representing younger people and one representing older people. When Amy is being told off by the superior male, she shouts and cry's when running off which conforms to the stereotype of young people being immature and unreasonable. Moving on, next, near the end the old lady i shown walking slow and carefully, while the camera pans up slowly which shows that older people are cool, calm and collective.

- Editing 

First thing i noticed was that the pace of the camera switching and editing has slowed down when only the two adults were speaking in the office. It represents age and old people as being slow which conforms to the stereotype. This links in to my next point because when Amy gets back into the scene a quick edit has been used to represent her as a live, enthusiastic young person. Which conforms to the stereotype of young people being full of energy and hyper.The next thing is when the old lady near the end is running, a tracking shot is used linked in with a long-take to show the VERY short distance the old lady runs before she is wheezing and being tired  Which conforms to the stereotype of old people being slow, unhealthy.

- Sound

First thing is that when the main male is speaking to different people, the pitch and volume of his sound varies  For example, in the Office scene the male is speaking calm and sensibly, however when  Amy arrives his voice raises and gets harsher and Amy stays quiet. This shows the superiority of older people to younger which conforms younger people are inferior to older people.

- Mise en Scene

Clothing is a very important factor when it comes to Mise-en-scene. In this clip Mise-en-scene is used to represent age. The denotation of Amy are that she is wearing modern clothing, tight jeans, trainers and top. Which connotes that she is a new generation person compared to the other individuals inside this extract. When looking at the older people inside this clip, the denotes are that they are wearing dull-colored dirty coats, welly s, and checkered shirts or even plain trousers. This shows they are from a older generation and they do not  care about what they wear and how they look.

Moving on, when the older woman enters Amy's room you can straight away notice that a teddy bear is there, this connotes that the room belongs to a younger person because they are more into their toys and fluffy items which conforms to the stereotypes of younger people being immature and child-like.