Evaluation Question 1= In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My final products:

Short film:

Ancillary texts- Poster and Magazine Review:

I chose to produce a short film and promo package based on an original idea I had for a crime-thriller. I wrote an original script, which was altered during production in consultation with my cast members as well as choosing locations, costume and a soundtrack made up of songs and background music as is often conventional. I undertook planning and research stages to create my production and once I finished the final version of my video I uploaded it to YouTube. I then chose to create a magazine review article and a poster for my short film to help promote it. Below I will evaluate my media texts on the effectiveness of use of conventions, how the products work together in cohesion and comment on the effective use of digital media during all stages of production, which will be contrasted with feedback I have gathered from the audience. 

As I was not creating a music video I could not rely on creating a pastiche based on the music video of a song. I was required to create a treatment as well as 3 original ideas, after which I chose a crime story about a boy who was forced to sell drugs by a evil drug lord to his peers. His sister finds the drugs and destroys them, causing him to meet the druglord with no profits which ends with the boy being violently attacked and abducted. At the secret location the unconscious boy is taken too, he gets into a scuffle with the man ending up dead. Unbeknownst to the boy, the drug kingpin has sent a assailant to kill his sister which is revealed to the audience at the end in a twist. After I had the story, I set about assembling a soundtrack using popular music and background music. To do this, I looked into what music is conventional to use with crime short films.

Soundtrack:

From my research I had discovered that:

Short films have soundtracks that match the narrative on the screen

They use a variety of diagetic and non-diagetic sounds to create an atmosphere and mood

This ranges from recorded music to background music

I felt it was important to uphold and include these conventions in my short film as I wanted to create a piece which was full of suspense and plot twists and music would accompany this to create a much more powerful and prominent effect on the audience. To create this powerful effect, I needed to research songs and background music related to my narrative. I broke my narrative down into these sections:

Once I had my four areas of soundtrack (Neutral, Suspense, Violence and Melancholy), this allowed me to select songs that match the narrative of my storyline, thus upholding the conventions that I discovered whilst doing my research.

Neutral:

Neutral areas were areas in my film where there was no significant action, such as Harry waiting for Carl's car to arrive, Lauren standing around the kitchen and Carl driving the car. These sections used no background non-diagetic music as there was no significant developments in the narrative to match music too. Despite this, I still used diagetic music in some of these scenes. 

The title scene has no soundtrack and contains a 'whoosh' noise when the titles pop up. This sound effect was found on Final Cut Pro and was useful as it matches the animation of the titles, which flip around inverting in size and positioning. This is also an eerie sound effect, perhaps foreshadowing to the events laying ahead.

Throughout, I often digitally enhance sound effects such as the door opening here to be louder and punchier. This creates an effect that almost startles the audience, whilst  the loudness here indicates the significance of his arrival in terms of the narrative that lies ahead.

Although the tail-end of a suspense track is still playing here, I used the Michael Jackson song 'Smooth Criminal' as a diagetic sound, playing on the radio. As the shots were edited quick to create a suspenseful and impacting scene, I used two lyrics on a Car Radio effect that were:
'Bloodstains' 

and 

'She was struck down'

Although the audience doesn't know it yet, this is an intentional foreshadowing towards both Carl and Lauren's death. 'Bloodstains' relates to knife stabbing Carl, and 'She was struck down' relates to the last scene where Lauren is shown dead on the floor. In addition, I use this song as non-diagetic music later too which shows continuity throughout my piece and the following of conventions.

When the boy is revealed the only noise being made is diagetic- his pleas to be let go and his confusion as to where he is, expressed via dialogue and his struggling to get out of the chair he is tied to. As is convention, when the door peaks open, that's when the dramatic music begins.

I feel these effect use above were useful to break up the action, as well as hint to the viewer the action coming ahead, linking in with the 'plot twists' and 'lulls and peaks in plot' that I discovered were conventions  of crime-thrillers when I researched, showing in this regard I followed conventions of real media products.

Suspense:

Suspense scenes were those when the viewer is unsure as to what will happen next as the characters are either locked in dramatic dialogue, in danger or the viewer is aware something is about to happen. Although not a short film, one of the greatest suspense scenes of all time is from 'The Shining' and I aimed to follow the soundtrack conventions which are a suspenseful, dramatic piece of music accompanied by relevant diagetic sounds, in this case screams from the woman behind the door and the axe smashing into the door. 

During this scene, after Lauren has revealed she knows about the drugs a suspenseful background tune plays that I researched on YouTube. I chose one that was royalty free and one that the author has given college and university students permission to use in short films before as demonstrated here.  This was to make sure that there was no issue with copyright infringement, especially as it was  made by an independent producer and not a huge corporation such as Sony with recorded tracks which I own as I have bought them. 

In fact,I used two other instrumental pieces by this producer too because their work was brilliant and matched my piece well, complimenting the narrative which is a convention of short films.

This music below plays when Carl grabs Harry.

Later on, when Carl goes up to get the rod to hit Harry without him knowing the music becomes louder, more dramatic and this hints to the audience that something dramatic is about to happen. This is a real life conventional device that is used in real media products, for example the short film 'Contracts' uses a dramatic soundtrack which is heard after a gun shot is fired and continues while they walk through the house. This shows that in this regard I have followed media conventions to show verisimilitude in my product. 

This background track starts playing when the door starts to creep open in the garage, following real life media conventions pointed out in 'The Shining' and 'Contracts'.

Often suspenseful and violent scenes in my short film share both non-diagetic and diagetic music, inspired by other short films and media products. As discussed earlier, the Michael Jackson song 'Smooth Criminal' is used twice, the second time is when the man is driving off with the boy in the boot after hitting him. Once again the lyrics of:

'You've been hit by a smooth criminal'

relate in almost perfect fashion to the narrative, as the boy has literally been hit by a criminal, showing the following of real media conventions as discussed above. 

This song is used during the scene above.

Throughout my short film, I often try to, using manipulation of sound in editing and music choices, create loud and convincing sound effects and for this I was inspired by several media works. The main example of this is the lightbulb smashing and exploding and plunging the room into darkness, a device so the stabbing can take place in secret for both dramatic and practical reasons- it adds suspense and filming a stabbing is incredibly risky and something that after analysing the health and safety of my production was not possible to do. The lightbulb effect was based on the 'Hollyoaks blast'- although it was from a TV drama and not a short film it was still something I could try to replicate because the mediums share conventions such as shot reverse shot cinematography features, use of sound ect. 

Although this section of my evaluation is about sound, I will still describe how I created the effect towards the end of my video. I took an image of the lightbulb on, carefully removed the lightbulb then filmed the lightbulb socket with nothing in it. I then used a dramatic sound effect I found on Final Cut Pro and a flash and fade-to-black transition effect on the software to make it look like an explosion without actually damaging the lightbulb or electrocuting myself! 

This is the similar effect in Hollyoaks, showing how I used cross-medium conventions to create a similar yet different product. 

In addition, I was heavily influenced by Michael Jackson's short film 'You Rock My World' (although many would regard it a music video, Michael Jackson called his longer videos 'short films' as they featured storylines, narratives and dialogues, not just choreography and music and were significantly longer than the song they were promoting) in regard to the diagetic noises and effects I included to add to the suspense and violent scenes as well as adding and reacting to the narrative.

The scenes in You Rock My World where Michael throws the money on the poker table and where he throws the glass at the wall created exaggerated sound effects that inspired the loud sound effects when the drugs were washed down the drain, creating suspense and startling the audience.

In relation to violence, the scene where Michael punches the man in the club and throws the table inspired the sounds of the rod hitting Harry and the hammer hitting Carl, as well as the table being thrown in the dark scene in the garage.

Melancholy

Towards the end of my short film, I chose to use a very melancholic and reflective piece of music to dramatically alter the tone of my short film after all the action for two reasons:

To give the audience a break from the action

To lull the audience into a false sense of security before a final twist

The song I chose was a huge hit last year, Alt J's Hunger of the Pine which was used on many TV shows due to it's very unusual, sad, reflective sound.

This scene follows conventions used in other short films after major events in the plot such as the short film Bubble, in which the music becomes more melancholic and less dramatic before the end after a big climax in its plot.

The credits of my film feature the song 'This Time Around' as the lyrics once again relate to the narrative of the plot, bringing closure to the storyline.

This time around I'll never get bit
Though you really wanna fix me
This time around you're making me sick
Though you really wanna get me
Somebody's out
Somebody's out to get me
They really wanna fix me, hit me
But this time around I'm taking no s...
Though you really wanna get me
You really wanna get me

He really thought he really had
Had a hold on me
He really thought he really had
They thought they really had control of me
He really thought he really had
Control of me
He really thought he really had
They thought they really could control me

These lyrics relate to Harry's struggle against Carl and how he got the last laugh- however he is unaware his sister is dead, leaving the audience on a cliffhanger that will never be resolved but with enough closure to satisfy them, a convention of Thriller short films as I researched earlier. 

Would I have done anything differently in regards to sound?

On the whole, I was really pleased with how the score and sound effects turned out in my film. I think they worked really well in conjunction with the narrative and conveyed the emotions that I intended too, as well as being influenced by and following real life conventions as analysed above. I think I could have perhaps made use of more sound effects to create a real running theme throughout such as boots walking on the ground and more effects like doors slamming but I am happy with the effects I did include, especially the lightbulb and the hammer throw. I'm also glad with how well the lyrics linked in with elements of the storyline, it gave it a really professional finish in this regard.

Cinematography

I chose to create a short film because I felt it allowed me to dabble with the 'best of both worlds'- I didn't feel restricted by following line by line lyrics to create my story but still could use music to add to the mood, I could also use more dialogue than I would be able to in a music video as well as being able to incorporate elements of conventions from many different types of media- TV, Film, Short Film and Music Video- you can't really do that with a music video. It allowed me to be more creative and I enjoyed creating the film, and drew upon several products I was aware of.

One of these was Carl and Phil's fight in EastEnders, I always loved how 'gangster' this storyline was and I borrowed elements from it in my film, including mise-en-scene and cinematography. I was originally going to film in a similar location to this but this was not possible for several reasons such as health and safety and actually finding a similar location, so I decided to transfer it to an industrial estate which was a similar enough setting and actually was better because it gave my media product a more gritty mood which I liked.

Although my film was edited with a faster pace to convey the frenzied and dangerous setting the action is taking place in, there is still similar camera work evident here that is a convention among all dialogue based medium, including short film.

This shot from EastEnders is similar to my short film as it is a sort of establishing long shot, showing the characters and the vehicle so that the audience can see what is happening in the film. These shots are conventional of all media forms, especially at the start or end of scenes.

Both texts also make use of shot reverse shot techniques to show dialogue here. The shots are even similarly placed, with a close up of both Phil and Harry's arm over the both Carl's (that was a coincidental name but it works!) as well as a longer shot revealing how one is under the power of the either, from higher angles to show dominance and lower to connote the opposite. 

Furthermore,  close ups are used of the dominant person in the conversation to of them looking down, often with an eyeline match to show that they are in control of the conversation. t also shows the emotions of the characters which relates to the narrative on screen. This is an example of me using media conventions in my product, as it makes the product look more professional and familiar to the audience. 

Another short film I took inspiration from was the graphic match in Plastic, I thought worked well at showing a different angle of an action and allowed me to pace my edit quickly, which is a convention of crime-thriller short films.

The graphic match in Plastic showing her clutching the beads and them breaking contrasted with the

graphic match I put in my film of Carl raising his hand to follow conventions. I developed the convention however, because I used it in a much more quick way, incorporating it into my fast paced editing style that was crucial to the movement of the storyline.

I used a variety of effects throughout which conveyed emotions and as sign to the audience that the narrative was about to develop. This is actually a move away from the conventions of crime-thriller short films, which are known for being shot fairly roughly and grittily, and although I did this via the use of mise-en-scene, I felt it would be better to portay events such as Harry being hit with the rod in a dramatic, fade-in-fade-out way to perhaps show his unconscious state as well as move away from unnecessarily rowdy and brash shots of people running around with weapons screaming and shouting, which doesn't fit the tone of the video in my opinion, despite being a convention. The black and white effect also is a complete contrast from the heat effect I had being using during the 'build up'- telling the audience that this event is over, leading them to the next in the story.

Assorted screencaps showing the effects used. 

Editing

The most common way to edit in a short film is simply by changing the shot with a graphic match or a jump cut to change angle and continue with the narrative. An example of this is seen with the short film 'Plastic':

 I followed this convention throughout however I did decide to include cross-dissolves and a special television screen fuzz effect throughout, which is also used on my ancillary texts to create continuity.

In addition, I did not have the software to digitally create bruising or injuries after the attack but to create verisimilitude and to follow the conventions of crime thrillers I used make up on Harry to create bruising and although this wasn't perfect because I am certainly no make up artist I think providing my lack of experience it sufficed. If I could do it again, I may have recruited a friend to make it look more professional but in the scheme of things I think it was a fairly permissible error of judgement and actually still looked rather okay.

In addition, if I could do this project again I would pay even more attention to the shots I took and during the editing process. It was stressful to film in the short space of time, especially with the short days of early spring and the pressure of completing work for other subjects too and balancing time too, so I had to take less time than I would have liked too so two mistakes slipped into the editing and cinematography process. 

This shot should have been framed more to the left as you can see Carl in the house even though by this point he is very much dead... this shot is only short and the viewers attention should be on Harry cleaning the knife but it is still a considerable error.

This error took me a very long time to spot due to the fast nature of the editing, the tripod can be seen, hopefully most people won't be able to spot it and it could be disguised as something else in the industrial estate.

If I had a bigger budget or more time I could have re-done these shots or edited the blunders out. On the whole however, I was fairly pleased with the editing and shots I took. 

...Ancillary texts...

I researched a variety of film posters to find out more about their conventions and how I could apply those to make my own work look more professional. 
I googled some images of film posters and decided to make a list of elements which I felt were similar among them. 








As is evident from these examples, conventions include:

Images of the main actors
Their names
Tag line
Name of film
Credit info at the bottom (Billing Card)
Release date or coming soon
Director names
Website and social media links of film
Rating and reviews

One of the main conventions of film/short film posters is the cast and crew credits at the bottom as shown in these real life examples below

They conventionally show logos of the institution, release date, cast and crew, website and other similar information. I found out this was called a 'Billing Card' from my research, which also uses a particular typeset. As you can see below, I incorporated these elements into my own work to create a realistic and conventional piece. I also challenged conventions and showed how my form of medium was different to feature film by including the YouTube logo, showing the use of web 2.0 in  my work and how media has progressed over time whilst also reflecting the lower budget of my work as unlike a film it will not get a feature release. I also created a logo for my own institution as well as incorporating Dolby Digital, PAL and other logos to further reflect conventions.

As you can see this poster features many of the conventions that I have detailed above. It contains a house style scheme that is taken from the short film including the same typeset as the movie, recreating the TV fuzz transition in the background and having the characters in the image.

I wanted to see what my poster would look like on a bus stop billboard, which I know would be a conventional place for this poster to be featured as from my own experience I have often seen movie posters at bus stops around cities and towns. I used the website 'MakeSweet' to superimpose the image on.

I feel that the posters look eye catching and interesting and would draw attention from the audience due to the industrial and crime stereotypical colour scheme and this would reach my target audience of teenagers and younger adults who will use buses often. I am especially proud of how my this ancillary text turned out, although the image of Carl looks slightly lower quality due to the effect it is still stylish and shows a marked improvement from my AS coursework. 

In terms of my magazine poster I looked at the names of other magazines such as 'Empire' and created my own title 'FilmToday' and this is the name that features on my poster, showing the following of conventions as well as intertextuality.

Before I started, I wrote my article out in Microsoft Word following a template of another film review article from Empire to make sure I was following the codes and conventions of film article writing, which includes not giving away too much info about the plot and referencing the names of actors ect. In this regard I had to follow conventions as if I had not I may have spoiled the film for people and people may not bother watching it if they already know what has happened.  

I attempted to follow conventions by adding a rating at the end of the review article, including some form of informative graph at the top which was my own 'thrill-o-meter' relating to the action on screen, including a small box of 'extra' quick info about the film as well as a main image and being influenced by the stylistic features of other magazines as well as following general DPS conventions like keeping a consistent house style and font ect. I created most of my DPS in Publisher as it allowed  me to format my magazine to conventional size which is important so the reader can read the magazine properly.