EVALUATION

PRESENTATION.
IMOGEN PARSLOW

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

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Who would be the audience for your media product?
How did you attract/address your audience?
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this
product?
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the
progression from it to the full product?

CONTINUITY TASK.

OUR MAIN TASK.

QUESTION 1.

CODES AND CONVENTIONS- WHAT ARE

THEY?

Codes are the systems of signs which create meaning. Codes

can be divided into 2 categories which are technical and
symbolic. Technical codes are all the ways in which equipment
is used to tell a story in media texts e.g. Camera work in a
film. Conventions are the generally accepted ways of doing
something, conventions are genre specific.
Both codes and conventions are used in the study of genre.
Codes is used in camera work. The technical code of lighting is
used in some way in all film genres. It is a convention of the
horror genre that the side and back lighting is used to create
mystery and suspense.

CODES AND CONVENTIONS- WHAT ARE

THEY?
Typical conventions of romance films are that they are most commonly aimed at a
female audience. Normally the director will produce a script which would give the
audience a hint that the characters are a good love match. In most romance films the
characters go their separate ways because of an argument but in some cases are
reunited afterwards. Romance films usually involve wedding bells and flowers which all
symbolize love. Films fitting under the genre romance are almost always what happens
in everyday life so this means that they are relate able to whoever is watching. All
romance films contain sexuality, status, gender and relationships. Boy meets girl is
typical in a romance film as all viewers can relate and hope for a happy ending.
Narrative genre refers to the story or plot that the work of a literature tells or enacts.
There are four basic story lines these being;
Tragedy
Comedy
Romance
Satire

CONVENTIONS.
Studio/ Production company logo.
Titles- the cast and crew.
Genre.
Themes.
Introduction of characters.
Sound- diegetic or non diegetic.
Narrations and text

STUDIO/PRODUCTIONS.

Film openings will always have logos or identifications of the

production company and the distribution companies involved in

the production of the media text. These are always expected
by the audience so they can set up their expectations for the
film depending on how highly the distributor is looked upon.
For example if the warner bros logo is shown you will expect a
high budget film.

TITLES.

The text is designed to tell the audience names of the people and organisations
involved in the production and organisation of the film. This gives everyone the
recognition they deserve.

There is always a conventional way in which they present the text. The order in
which they are presented are as follows:

Production company
Producers names
Directors names
Title of the film
Highest grossing actor
Support cast
Crew

ESTABLISHING THE GENRE.

Within film openings the audience should be able to establish
the genre of the film due to the key genre conventions that
indicate the genre to the audience e.g with a psychological
thriller they key convention is the use of low key lighting to
create tension so therefore as a viewer after seeing the low key
lighting you would know it was a psychological thriller. This
factor contributes to establishing the genre of the film and the
opening sequence will usually include a character or event which
is typically seen in a particular genre.

SOUND.
In an opening sequence there is always sound. Non-diegetic is

the most common as it helps set the scene for the audience
and conveys the type of genre and what you should expect in
the film. Slow and tense music will be used in a horror however
some films use diegetic music to help set the scene. This is
normally used in comedy where the actor may be using music.

Some film openings may even include themed music to set up

the overall feel for the film. It can also be used to set up the
audiences expectations.

IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA

PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE
FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL
MEDIA PRODUCTS?
I think that our media product represents the common codes and convention of
a thriller genre, these being the tension and suspense, low key lighting and
creepy music. Our inspiration was from The Blair Witch project. Incognito does
follow the common codes and conventions of a thriller film. It is about a main
character being in danger and being stalked. However we also challenged
convention along the same lines as Se7en did .

Being stalked.

Low key lighting.

Point of view shot.

CHALLENGE
We didnt want our media product to just

be of the thriller esc feel so we decided to

add some aspects from the horror genre.
Before producing our media product we
watched TV series such as American
horror story. From this we decided to
include horror aspects in our title
sequence, One of these is in the POV
handheld camera footage that is edited in.

Our POV shot.

Breaking bad POV shot

QUESTION 2.

WHAT IS A SOCIAL GROUP

Asocial groupis a collection of people who interact with each

other and share similar characteristics and a sense of unity.
Asocial category is a collection of people who do not interact
but who share similar characteristics.

How does your media product represent particular

social groups?

In incognito we have two main characters, the first one is the killer who
is the main antagonist and leaves the audience in suspense. We did this
because we thought it would then be more gripping to the audience.
The second character is the detective, he shows the police and
enforcement of law that is used in many different thriller films. We
wanted to create tension by using different shot types such as a POV
shot to show the killers perspective, this made it look as if the
detective is being stalked. As of sound in this scene we used heavy
breathing and whispering. These sound effects made our antagonist
seem intimidating and the audience may be scared of him. Although we
have 2 main characters the detective is not the one that you initially
remember, your attention is mainly on the antagonist and what he is

HOW ARE SOCIAL GROUPS USUALLY

REPRESENTED.
Gender is usually represented in media products as the female playing and
being the victim and the male then being the villain. When the male is a
villain it shows that he dominates her and in some ways he is a lot more
powerful than the girl.

The social group age is usually represented by the older age group being
more dominant and wise then the younger ones, teenagers would come
across as the stereotypical teenage. In media products teenagers are
usually shown to be taking drugs or drinking.

SOCIAL GROUPS:
Age
Gender
Class& Status
Race
Disability
Ethnicity
Sexuality
Regional identity

Impact on the audience.

Social groups and how they are
presented can automatically affect the
audience massively. In regards to
gender when a female in looked down
upon you automatically grow a sense of
attachment to her and feel sorry for her.
By adding this social group into a media
product it can get the audience gripped
and it may become more relatable to a
lot of people.

EXPLAIN HOW YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT

REPRESENTS PARTICULAR SOCIAL
GROUPS
Mise en scene
Language
Narrative
Audio
Shot types
Editing

CLASS.
By him wearing a shirt, tie, smart trousers and a

jacket he couldve looked like an under cover police

officer. In regards to the class of one of our main
characters. The smart dress portrays the sense of
money and that he is of a higher class. By him
wearing a tie you can see that he takes care of his
appearance. I tried to think about all the impression
the audience may get of him after seeing the police
like character. They could think that maybe he is
committing a crime or that he is trying to solve a
case in his own time. As a group we wanted them to
think that he was solving a case in his own time and
looking for the murderer whilst off duty. We wanted
this sort of storyline because it could show that the
killer has become an obsession. This linked to the TV
series Luther. In both thriller series and films the
protagonist is in there own mind set and then does
whatever they can to solve a case and in regards to
the common codes and conventions of a thriller film
we wanted to reflect the sense of determination in

GENDER.

Incognito featured all male characters. The

protagonist who is an off duty police officer is

typically male. In a thriller film you would
stereotypically think of the police officer to be a
male. We used a male because we thought he
portrayed the determination and stamina to solve a
case on his own. We stuck to this convention of a
thriller film without meaning to we just thought a
mail would definitely suit this role more. Men are
stereotypically stronger than women and throughout
the title sequence you are left to think that he will
find the murderer and a male would be strong
enough to bring him down. In our opening sequence
we portray the male character to have power and
determination. This power and determination builds
up tension throughout our sequence.

QUESTION 3

WHAT IS A MEDIA INSTITUTION?

Amediaconglomerate,mediagroup, ormedia

institutionis a company that owns numerous companies in

various massmedia; i.e. television, radio, publishing, motion
picture, and the Internet.

Media
ownership
Concentration ofmedia
ownership(also known
asmediaconsolidation
ormediaconvergence) is a process
whereby progressively fewer
individuals or organizations control
increasing shares of the mass
media

INSTITUTIONAL TERMINOLOGY.

THRILLER FILMS THAT UNIVERSAL

STUDIOS HAVE ALREADY DISTRIBUTED.
Fast and furious 6 and 7.
Jurassic world.
Jurassic park.
Jaws.
Battleships.
Mama.
The Bourne identity.

RELATE TO ASPECTS OF THE SEQUENCE.

WHAT KIND OF MEDIA INSTITUTION MIGHT

DISTRIBUTE YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT AND WHY?
I think that there are a few media institutions that would be suited to the

distribution of our product. If we made Incognito into a full product it could be

distributed by various media institutions. Our product isnt in one genre
category it depends on the person watching and weather they put it into the
horror genre or the thriller genre. It has parts of both genres in it. I think that
the main companies it could be distributed by is: Universal, Netflix and The
BBC. We got in contact with Lionsgate and Warner Bros for feedback, in some
aspects I do think our product could be suited to suit many media institutions.
We asked for feedback from Lionsgate and Warner Bros. I do think our media
product could also suit these media institutions however I think that they are
the biggest media institutions and smaller ones may suit our product more. To
narrow it down from these 3 I would definitely go for Universal Studios. I think I
would choose them because after researching their thriller films they have
already distributed I can see they have all done well and I think this one is the
media institution that will make our product do very well.

QUESTION 4

WHO WOULD BE THE

AUDIENCE FOR YOUR MEDIA
PRODUCT?
We
think
that
Incognito
is most suited to people over 12 so therefore as a

group we decided to give our main task the age rating 12 on the bbfc age
ratings. We thought that people under the age of 12 may find the storyline
to be scary so we decided it is most suited to people of 12 and over.

QUESTION 5

HOW DID YOU ATTRACT/ADDRESS

YOUR AUDIENCE?
When we were in the production process of our

sequence we didnt want Incognito to follow the basic

and typical thriller template because these dont tend
to grip the audiences attention as much as other
genres do, such as horror and rom coms. We then
went on to look at more recent audiences and what
they want in a thriller title sequence. The breaking of
convention is when our main character is faced with
another version of himself. We added this bit because
we havent seen it happen before and we didnt want
to stick to the basic template of a thriller film. In our
planning and research for main task we never
intended to have this bit but after finishing the
production of our first and second draft we wanted to
maximise the tension and we thought by adding this
scene the tension would be maximised.

INITIAL TARGET AUDIENCE RESEARCH TO

SUPPORT CHOICE.
Our first question in our survey helps
support our 12 age certificate. The question
was which one of these is your favourite
and the answer was fast and furious. The
fast and furious films are rated a bbfc 12.
This helped to show us that thriller films can
be highly enjoyed by younger children and
it is very suited to them.

SURVEY.
We got most of this feedback
from our survey that we created.
This was done recently so it was
therefore modern audience
feedback which is exactly what
we wanted. Our 10 questions
varied massively throughout. We
got a feedback from 12 year olds
on onwards. This helps us
confirm that question 4 and that
rating our title sequence a 12 is
the right decision. By getting
feedback from our target
audience its helped us address
their needs because we can suit
our sequence to what they
wanted to see.

To view our full survey please click here.

QUESTION 6

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT ABOUT TECHNOLOGIES

FROM THE PROCESS OF CONSTRUCTING THIS
PRODUCT?
The first thing we had to learn is how to use the camera and

how it worked. We needed to have a full understanding of this

so we could film our footage to the best standard possible. In
our group our editor knew how to use the camera and how to
edit things. I personally havent edited footage before so it
was a massive learning curve for me. All our filming was done
on a Canon G16 and the editing was done on Pro X. We didnt
have the best equipment available however we improvised
and we are all more than happy with our final piece and the
quality of it. In regards to sounds there was a built in mic to
the camera and this is what we used throughout the
production of our sequence. Our sequence still has good
sound and you could hear everything throughout. The camera
was very good however it wasnt specifically built for the type
of filming we were doing with it. It made Incognito look very
good. Our editor joe started editing on Premiere then switched
to Final Cut. Joe learnt from scratch how to use Final Cut and
you wouldve never guessed because the editing was done to
an amazing standard.

CREATION STAGE

During the creation stage of our main task

Evaluation stage.

QUESTION 7

SKILLS AUDIT.

SKILLS AUDIT

ISSUES FACED IN THE CONTINUITY TASK

The close up shots we
planned to do did not all look
as professional and effective
as we thought so we decided
to scrap those ideas and
come up with more close ups
of different things. Overall
this came out much better
than I anticipated and after
facing a lot of problems with
the shots I didn't think we
would produce something of
this higher quality and good
story line.

Our first close up.

Our second close up

Our third close up

Our forth close up

ISSUES FACED IN OUR CONTINUITY TASK.

Our other bit of feedback was to

make the low angle shot of our
actors feet walking a little bit longer.
Miss thought this would've been
more effective if it was a longer
duration of time.

Whilst sitting at the desk our

actress (Sophie Tinker) is
tapping the desk with her
fingers. Miss' feedback on this
was that it came across very
scripted and if we were to do it
again we should get our
actress to do something more
natural so it doesn't look as
scripted.

This was the shot miss

wanted to be made
longer so it could then
have the full affect.

Before.

We have now edited

that bit out so it does
not look scripted

After.

RESEARCH STAGE
What is the continuity task all about?
The continuity task involves filming and editing a character opening a door,
crossinga room and sitting down in chair opposite another character, they will
then exchange dialogue. this task needs to demonstrate match
on action,
shot/ reverse shot and the 180 degree rule
Brief:
match on action shot.
have a door opening and closing.
shot reverse shot.
30 second of dialogue.
keep to the 180 degree rule.
The 180 rule is a cinematography guideline that states that two characters in a scene
should
maintain the same left/right relationship to one another . When the camera passes over the
invisible axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line and the shot
becomes what is called a reverse.

Dexter
PLANNING STAGE

Genre:

Our genre will be drama. We have decided to

pick this genre as it is the most intriguing and

fits in the best with our ideas. We will also
base it a little bit around crime because this
fits around our sudden change.

en influenced
ose up of a
ous
We have been influenced by some of the shots
and storyline from the TV series Dexter

We have also been influenced by one shot of

a close up of a glass from oblivious

Plot:
Our initial idea is to make our continuity task based around two sides to
one person, we will see the character go from being sophisticated and
calm to frantic and dangerous. This change will be very sudden to add
suspense to our piece.

PLANNING STAGE
Equipment and props required:

We will need to have a suit, watch, tie and a

glass to include in our continuity task.

There will be a footstep sound in the

background to add suspense.

All of our close up shots will be on a dark

background- we are hoping to find this dark
background in school.

Conversations towards the end will be done

in a non school environment.

Effectiveness:

Throughout a large chunk of this task the actor

will be faceless so the person watching begins
to judge them based on their routine and how
they dress and present themselves.
Initially the character comes across as
sophisticated and calm and organised but
something then switches the tone of the
character and we see a completely different
side to them.

Shot Types:
Most of our continuity task will
include close up shots. We have
chosen to include close up shots
because the character in our task
is going to remain faceless. We
will also have extreme close up
shots.
Audio:
We will begin with calm classical
music and in the middle there will
be a tone change and the music will
become dramatic.
The music will be coming from a
radio.
There will also be a background
noise of footsteps in some scenes
and humming too.

PLANNING STAGE.
Effectiveness:
The music will change when the
character changes.

The speed of our piece will suddenly

pick up. As the persons persona
changes the camera angles and
shots will begin to change.

Effectiveness:
The conversation is meant to fulfil the plot,
soon after the characters face is revealed a
conversation will come about. It will be about
a murder the character has committed or our
other idea is a very normal conversation and
not long after the conversation is over the
character reverts back to there sophisticated
selves. The purpose of this is to show how
two faced the character is.

LOOKING BACK AT YOUR PRELIMINARY TASK,

WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE LEARNT IN THE
PROGRESSION FROM IT TO THE FULL
PRODUCT?
Throughout this process I feel like Ive learnt a lot and Im really happy with my

progression in media as an individual and as a group. The first thing is Ive learnt
how to work well in a group and what my role were as a producer. Ive enjoyed this
process of creating the main task and its been a massive learning curve. Ive learnt
that the quality of your final product isnt just about the equipment youre using to
make your film its also about the people who are making it and the people in the
film. We had to work well as a group in order to achieve a really good final cut and I
believe we did. The main thing I learnt is that in the research and planning process
and the production process there is so much that goes into it and it isnt as easy as
its portrayed to be. We had to do test shots, risk assessments, story boards, teasers,
animatic and a lot more. I knew there would be a lot to the production process I just
wasnt expecting for it to be as much as it was, however I did enjoy every step of it.