AS Media Studies: 2016

Evaluation Question 1

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

The opening scene of my film both uses and challenges the codes and conventions found with films of the same genre. The aim with 'The Deal' was to create a recognisable action comedy film by at the same time create something that was new and interesting.
'The Deal' is about two school students who enter into a deal which is out of their depth and subsequently face the consequences. Martin is a shy boy but a genius inventor where as Taylor feels he can exploit Martins talents for his own financial benefit. As the deal at the start of the film goes wrong they spend the next 6 months on the run from these destructive criminals who want to use Martins devices as weapons. A friendship develops between Martin and Taylor throughout the feature which helps the add depth and meaning to the film.

Previous Genre Research; Conventions:
The conventions associated with action comedy films are:
-Fights
-Killings: death of loved ones
-Strong motive (preventing massive destruction)
-Hi tech equipment
-Located in a big modern city
-Weapons
-Relationships
-One smart character and one slower (funnier) character
-Awkward comedy moments
-Connection with characters

Ways in which I have matched and challenges there conventions of action comedies:
I have coincided with many codes and conventions of the action comedy genre in order to make it recognisable as that genre and familiar to the audience. 'The Deal' includes Hi tech equipment such as the mad inventions that Martin in capable of, this also adds sci fi elements to the film, as well as a strong motive for the action and destruction.
On the contrary to this I have also challenged and developed many forms and conventions associated with action comedy films. For an example of this I have decided to have two athletic lead characters in that of the school boys but one only mentally slower than the other. This differs from the likes of Hot Fuzz and the Jump Street films where half of the double act is there for slapstick comedy as well as just comedy in dialogue.
Another way in which I have followed the conventions of that my genre is that the protagonists of The Deal, play on the stereotypes of 'buddy cop' movies such as 21 Jump Street and Lethal Weapon. Taylor (Nathan Henton) is written as the arrogant, controlling type whereas Martin (Adam Francis) is the clever but more subdued one. They start on rocky ground but are forced to stick together after the events of the opening go south. Over the course of the film they would be set to see how much they each need each other in order to overcome the vastly superior and more experienced forces that oppose them eg. The Leader and his men. In this opening scene, the pair are clearly not close friends with Taylor controlling Martin from the outset and neither are they of one mind as Martin is forced to hand over the case. With our leads starting in conflict, we create the beginning of a character arc which we will follow the progress of throughout the rest of the film. These traits are very common in the action comedy genre.

MISE EN SCENE: (study: Knight and Day)

Nine Key Stills from my opening scene:

In the first still of my film (top left) I have an establishing shot to show the location and which production companies helped make the film, this sticks to the codes and conventions of modern action films. The font that I chose for the titles is also very typical of that of an action/comedy as you can see from the font used in my research film 'Knight and Day'.
The font used is Bank Gothic, a font which is often used in other staple action movie credits such as the Transformers series. By using a font which has preconceived connotations surrounding it, I have effectively aided the setting up of expectations and consequently heighten tension during the stable moments of the deal as the audience is expecting the outbreak of action at any moment.
The order that these titles appear in are typical following the conventions followed by Limitless and Knight and Day.(top left).
The setting between these films are both different however unlike my film, Knight and Day changes location twice in the opening sequence giving the opening a bit more direction and progression over my film opening. However the location in my film fits with the unknown aspect as well as the everyday ordinary feel that the location helps to portray, which really engages the younger viewers into the story.
The costumes are similar in both films as the 'bad guys' are all dressed in suits and smart clothing in both openings and the good are all in casual wear. The films are set in the same time period so the style and choice of clothes isn't that different between them.

Conventions of the Narrative:
The narrative of both films are very similar in that they both have a device which the bad side want, also that the plan goes wrong and the opening sequence ends with the good side getting away safely but are going to be followed by the other party. The narratives between these films are also presented at the start of the lead character on the good side not being that great of friends like wise in Knight and Day, but as the story progresses they become good friends likewise in Knight and Day. Again this conforms with the form of action comedies features. One way in which my film challenges the forms of the narrative is that the bad side aren't defeated at the end of the film but the initial threat is rounded up.

Location Forms/ Camera:

The Deal' opening is set both in a forest car park and inside the wood itself as the sun begins to set. The car park is an open space where everything is visible, a place of transit where people come and go swiftly as the participants of the deal seemingly intend to do. However once the deal goes wrong the action switches to the more claustrophobic confines of the forest, a wild place where sight lines are impaired and the situation is unpredictable. It is at this time that the sun sets for the night. In a large number of films, an obvious example being the Harry Potter series, forests at night are a place of danger and peril- consequently the tension is increased as the audiences preconceived notions of the nature of movies comes into play. The closeness of the trees compared to the openness of the car park also generates the feeling of the protagonists being trapped with no way out of their situation.
I wanted to create a strong sense of disruption and disorientation when the titular 'deal' suddenly goes wrong. As a result, I made the choice to switch from camera angles which were locked down and stable on a tripod and switch to a handheld shaky camera style once the conflict ensues to convey the sudden change in stability of the world which was seemingly all so controlled moments before. The shots on the character of the Leader are always locked down on a tripod despite the chaos, in contrast to the later shots of Taylor and Martin. This is in order to convey how controlled and calculating the Leader is. The events at hand are all part of the business for him but for Taylor and Martin, the events are very much outside their control and comfort zone. A similar idea is present in the closing moments of David Fincher's Seven where the shots on the character of John Doe are solidly locked down on a tripod as he manipulates the rapidly deteriorating situation. The camerawork on Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman's detectives is, in contrast, shaky and handheld which demonstrates how the situation is out of their control. By following the conventions of a close feeling location it has vastly helped to further push the films feeling of tension and further portray the boys dilemma.

Evaluation Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Age is a large group associated with my media production. In my film opening I decided to make age an important aspect of the film as it helps to demonstrate the power and experience gap between the two parties. The young 16/17 year old boys look innocent and 'powerless' where as the leader and the body guard look much older and more powerful. This is also represented by the fact that the leader and Diego drove to the scene in a large pickup truck whereas the boys were just on foot to further show the power gap.

By going with an all male cast this created a gender stereotype as men in most films represent power and sometimes wealth so by using a male cast member for the leader it shows dominance and wealth. In some films that I have watched men can often represent greed so by this stereotype we can derive that he would use the device for his own benefit in selling it or using it against others to better himself.

In the film 'Knight and Day' there is a similar character to Martin (left) in that he is a shy boy but is an inventor and can make very powerful products. He is also similar in a sense that the 'bad' parties are trying to exploit his intelligence for their own wealth and benefit.

Below shows a picture of Simon from the film 'Knight and Day'. In the film Simon conformed to almost all of the stereotypes associated with a 'nerd' or inventor. He wore glasses and his clothing was simple and didn't fit him well.
In my film 'The Deal' I decided to break away from all of the traditional stereotypes of the glasses and the long hair and decided to choose an actor who's hair was styled and didn't need to wear glasses. However I decided to keep the stereotypical clothing across both of my actors in order to show a huge contrast between the boys and the Leader who was in a suit and well kept.
I order to show his social awkwardness, I chose to have Martin eat breadsticks in a different way and really make a point about the odd food choice and the way in which we was eating them, in order to further portray his character.

The leader in 'The Deal' is a white British male, in many blockbuster american films they often cast a white British male as the lead bad role in the film. Therefore my film is conforming to the stereotype of a British male playing the bad role in a blockbuster.

For an example Tom Hiddleston plays the lead enemy role, Loki in 'Avengers Assemble' which shows that my film is coinciding with conventions of other action films. In many productions the lead bad guy often come from a troubled background to try and justify their acts of destruction and the leader in 'The Deal' is no different. The character represents (as you learn later in the production) the lower end of the working class and how he has risen to power and wealth through his own doing. He is also an example of how power and wealth can destruct your personality and develop you into a person who doesn't conform with the society and is therefore again it and wants to cause destruction and misery to the people who made his life hell in his younger years.

In the production of the Alex Rider series Storm breaker, the lead enemy is set out on revenge on the social classes which bullied him when he was younger. To some extent the leader represents this social class of people who seek revenge on those in their childhood.

Evaluation Question 3

What kind of institution might distribute your media product?
Directors Note: We gladly decided to accept paramount pictures's offer as we knew the types of films that they thrive in. Paramount pictures are responsible for films such as 'Transformers' and the 'Mission Impossible' series. We knew that many of their action films were in the style that we were searching for in 'The Deal' so collaborating with them helped us achieve the style we wanted for the film. With paramount pictures being experienced with distributing action and comedy films we knew that we had made the right choice to collaborate with the studios.

Evaluation Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

With every film production you need to have identified a target audience for the production. My target audience was the main film going audience of 14-25. However the certificate of the film would compromise some of my target audience as it would exclude anyone below a 15.

I decided to keep the bad language and violence in the film as without it the film would lack realism and would feel like it was made just to please a large audience.

My film audience would be similar to that of other action comedies like 21/22 jump street and Knight and Day however the rating of the latter is a 12A in the UK. My film contains more profanity and more bloody scenes therefore it is tailored for a slightly older audience.

Person 1's love of action film should spike his interest when it comes to this film as it is very action based. The fact that his favourite film is due date shows that he enjoys action comedies which coincides with 'The Deal'. Person 1's interest in pop music goes well with my film as it plans to use recent chart music for sections of the film to create the busy city atmosphere later on in the film.

I feel that my film would appeal to 'Person 2' as her favourite film is Star Wars meaning that she enjoys big blockbuster movies, which 'The Deal' is planning to be. The fact that she goes to the cinema every weekend shows that she is interested in many different genres meaning she would enjoy this film. This film also includes sci-fi elements which would also interest her.

Evaluation Question 5

How did you attract/ address your audience?

Audience Feedback:

This is the feedback that I gained from sending out a survey to my audience. The replies were all from people between the ages of 15-20 of mixed genders. This was my original target audience for my film. 100 percent of the people surveyed said that they would continue to watch the rest of the film which means that I have left sufficient enigma for people to want to continue watching The Deal.

The general comments that I received on the film were about the issues that I faced with the dying of the light during filming. As the filming wasn't completed chronologically the scene was very dark in the forest scenes however the very last shot of the leader was in fading sunlight even though the previous shots were in darkness.

On the question asked about pacing everyone responded with the fact that it was well paced. This was an improvement over one of my early drafts as it cut out some of the slower action and removed parts that were dragging.

With the target audience I am trying to pull it is of the up most importance have a film that is well if not slightly faster paced to keep this younger generation engaged in the film.

Evaluation Question 6

What have you learnt about the technologies from the process of constructing the product?

Below is a video explaining about the technologies that I used during my film opening as well as the technical difficulties that I faced in the production.

I have learnt about the importance of planning and how much the shot list helped me on set as I was able to work very efficiently and get all my shots filmed on time.

I have learn that when filming in open spaces with chance of rain to always erect a shelter of some kind to keep all of the gear dry when not shooting, as keeping the gear dry is essential. The lack of crew members on set became an issue as it led to problems such as rain on the lens and the danger of gear being left unattended especially when moving at a very fast pace to keep on schedule.