Real media texts were an essential influence for both my AS and A2 productions. They enabled me to understand the conventions of genre for example when picking what film genre and music video genre production group would choose. As well as a form of inspiration. My group and i produced a teen drama film sequence called 'Impact' and a cross-media promotional package for an artist. This included a website, digipak and a music video. The genre had to be easily to recognise for our audience.
At AS we researched into existing drama films by watching real life examples. By watching many drama films/film openings we found out the conventions which make a specific genre. Drama films exhibit real life situations with realistic characters, settings and story lines. They portray journeys of character development and add intense social interaction filled with climaxes to keep the audience emotionally attached to the ongoing tension. My production groups film sequence 'Impact' is about a teenager suffering with depression with no support - this is a realistic situation, that happens to many people. There are also climaxes to keep the audiences attention. We looked at Girl,Interrupted and found that drama films can be structured in a specific way to keeping the audiences attention, so they remain emotionally attached. This fits in with the equilibrium theory by Todorov. My film opening followed this theory and drama film conventions by using the same three part structure of a balance equilibrium, disruption then a new restored equilibrium. A emotionally voice over of the main character Sophia is how the film sequence starts this grips in the audience. This has been done in a real media text - The Notebook - a drama film about a mill worker and a rich girl who are desperately in love but her parents don't approve.
At A2 we also researched into existing music videos. We watched music videos of the pop/dance genre on YouTube such as Taylor Swift 'Blank space' and 'Post to be' by Omarion Ft Chris Brown. Watching these videos showed me the different forms of music videos for example 'Mockingbird' by Eminem meets the performance type of a music video. Narrative is another form of a music video, 'Shake it off' by Taylor Swift meets the conventions of a narrative music video by following a story in a structured and organised way. Thus we had to research further into videos of these types as the concept of real media was much less genre defined at A2. My production groups music video was performance based (focusing on our artist).We followed the fast paced editing used in 'Beautiful now' by Zedd in our music video and had around 100 different shots (heavily edited).
My production groups research skills developed enormously as we knew the research had to be reflective on our media products. I progressed a lot over the two years and became able to recognise certain camera shots for example and the effects of these on the audience.
At AS level my production group also researched into costumes as a convention of drama films. We were inspired by the teen drama 'It's kind of a funny story' as it focuses on teenage depression. Which is the main theme of our film sequence 'Impact' about a depressed teenage girl. We noticed that the clothes that they wore in 'It's kind of a funny story' were casual and 'normal'. We noticed as well that none of them wore school uniform therefore we decided to make our characters members of sixth form - who do not have to wear school uniform. We wanted our characters to look as normal as possible so that they could be relatable, so we kept make - up and costume simple eg they wore basic clothes such as jeans and a top. From research i learnt that drama films tend to be realistic, have a happy ending whilst going through a journey, also they have climaxes within the story line. In comparison at A2 level we didn't do as much research into costumes as it wasn't as important in a music video than in a film sequence. My production group decided to be more original and subvert the stereotypes of a music video of the pop/dance genre. As a performer in this type of genre music video would typically wear florescent, bright colours to stand out in the club - which is a typical location of a pop/dance music video. My group also subverted the common location of a music video - as it was filmed in a mirror maze rather than a club. We progressed by being original and subverting the stereotypes to stand out whereas at AS level we stuck to the stereotypes. We found that drama films were typically set inside a school, and at home. My production group decided that we would have our media product set in a school and at home to conform to the typical settings of a teen drama. In 'Kidulthood' we noticed that many of the shots were filmed in a school therefore used this to develop the conventions of a teen drama and represent them in our film opening.
Overall, real media texts and conventions of products became a huge part of our understanding of professional media products. Their use was essential at AS, but became more advanced and widely researched at A2, helping us to produce an incredibly professional product.
This has some good parts Maisie, with some clear examples once you get into the body of the essay. However, the structure is a bit confused and I am worried that you are so clear about AS that you sound like it's better than A2.
ReplyDeleteP1 - Intro - good comments about real media prods, but be clear about which was AS/A2 and give a bit more detail.
P2 - what are you saying in this paragraph? It's a bit random and undeveloped. If it's meant to be part of the intro, you don't need it - save the content for later.
P3 - This is a good level of detail. BUT - don't mention YouTube - you don't need it and it sounds lazy. And don't explain Todorov's theory. Just reference it.
P4 - Again, good, although I'd like to still be clearer on how you used the influences in your own work. Also, show how much you progressed - you're in danger of sounding better at AS! Play down the AS a little.
P5 - Good (although there are a few random sentences about happy endings etc - what's that to do with costume?). Again, use specific examples re costume in A" - who influenced you, and what did you do?
P6 - Your music points are a bit vague, because you can't show progress. I'd cut this.
- You have missed some key areas; you really need to explore camera work and editing to give you the opportunity to use terminology.
17/25