Question 7 - Looking back at your pre-lim task, what do you feel you have learned in progression from it to the full product?

Mistakes made in my pre-lim

Something that we encountered in our prelim task was continuity errors. For example, the two shots above show the drugs in different hands, however we didn't show the change in hands. Therefore, we were especially careful in the main task to keep continuity as we realized that a lack of it takes the viewer out of the film world. 

Another flaw with this scene is the set. We didn't clear the room as well as we should have and therefore the viewers would have been taken out of the world of our film. 

Additionally, we filmed in front of a window. This meant that the camera left a shadow on the shot which was not very professional.

Areas to improve

I feel that the thing we focused on most in our main task to improve was the continuity.

New techniques in the main task

One thing that we wanted to incorporate in the main task was the use of fake blood. This would have meant we could shoot someone and have a realistic looking wound. However, because we didn't practice using this during our pre-lim, we didn't get the consistency right and it didn't look realistic.

Question 6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Question 5 - How did you attract/address your audience?

Question 4 - Who would be the audience for your media product?

In this video I referenced the ABC1 system. C1 refers to the lower middle class, which is where I feel people will be able to relate to our film.

Question 3 - What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Question 2 - How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The characters within our film are Hugo Vega, Ricky Sideman, Mr Phelps and Delta.

The character of Hugo Vega was a symbol of power within our film playing the character of a drug lord. I feel that this can be generally be classified in the social group of the professional criminal. 

Another character is Delta. I feel that the social group of hackers is something that is growing within crime and in this respect I thought it was necessary to have this represented in our media product. 

Edward Snowden is someone who brought the idea of a hacker to light and because of this we wanted to mirror him to some extent with the character of Delta. Also, the name Delta sounds like a stereotypical name for someone related to mathematics and science which could appeal to the viewers who have a more basic understanding of the topic. 

The only other character easily attached to a social group of the character of Ricky Sideman. 

I feel that the character of Ricky is somebody who may be considered a chav. Additionally, the way in that he appears to be regretful and out of his depth in the level of the organized criminals was intended to show that these kind of people in society may not be aware of the depth to their crimes and may become regretful in future. 

Finally, the fact that Mr Phelps does not seem to be attached to a social group represents the mystery surrounding his character. It makes him less relatable and therefore harder for the viewer to assess.

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

CAMERA WORK

One shot that we definitely wanted to include was the mid shot of a character holding a gun against a character. In our planning we identified this shot in addition to the one above of Jules as something we wanted to replicate.

The reason that I felt this shot would be a good part of the conventions of a crime film to include is because it shows the facial expressions of the characters whilst also showing the fact they have a gun. This meant that we could display the resolute facial expression that Hugo has in the film whilst shooting Rickie. Furthermore, we wanted to have the character on the side of the shot as it meant the gun could be placed in the center emphasizing the power it has. 

Another camera shot that we wanted to use was the close up. It is a common camera shot used in crime films and we felt it allowed us to show the emotion of our character more effectively than another shot. Especially in this scene where Hugo needs to look intimidating and assertive. 

ICONOGRAPHY

One key part of the iconography in crime films that we wanted to incorporate was the use of guns. They are a symbol of power which we felt we could utilize to show the power that the character of Hugo Vega has and the fear that he can strike into people. 

COSTUME

One way that we attempted to develop upon real media products was our use of costumes. A very common costume used by crime films is the full suit with the white shirt, as seen above. However, in our media product we took the decision to have the lead character in a black shirt, without the suit jacket. I think that the black shirt is a symbol for the darkness that Hugo has and a white shirt wouldn't have created this effect.