Evaluation question 1

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

During my A2 media, students had to create a short film, along with a magazine review and poster to go with it. It was our choice what the genre was. I chose to create a dark comedy (also known as black comedy) short film. In films, there are specific conventions that are followed in order for the audience to know that the film meets the audience's expectations. Dark comedy is slightly different than the type of comedy that is generally presented in films. Short films are different to feature films - there is a lot less time for character and plot development, therefore things need to develop and change quickly and simply. Something important needs to be happening almost at all times, that way the audience doesn't lose interest.

Conventions of the comedy genre:

• Comedy sketches often occur in bright places
• Camera work used in comedies is naturalistic
• Diegetic sound like the dialogue needs to be clear to make sure that it can be heard and laughed at
• Non diegetic sound is also important - it can be used to emphasise what is happening in a scene
• Idiotic people are used to contrast a group of "normal" people, to emphasise the stupidity of the idiotic character.

Dark comedy makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discuss.

Conventions of short films:

• Usually 3-20 minutes
• Storylines are generally kept simple and easy to follow
• Usually introduces 1-3 main characters as creating backstories and developing characters is limited
• Including a twist is common
• Overall short films allow for much more creativity and abstraction. They will often be made up of a number of creative shots and soundtrack making up an artistic and sometimes quirky piece.
• Budgets are generally quite low.

I used a lot of these conventions for my short film, which is 6 minutes and 50 seconds long. My short film is quirky, creative, and unique. The main character (Ben) does not represent the majority of teenage boys these days. His obsession with being a magician is not a common thing in this day and age.

I followed the simple storyline structure of beginning, middle, and end:

Obviously there are other scenes between these ones to complete the narrative, but these examples are the establishing scenes of each part of the narrative (beginning, middle, and end).

As for non-diegetic sound, I added in some music that had a quirky, mysterious, mystical feel to it. This can be listened to in all of the example clips I gave above. In the final scene, I edited the music so that it would have a slower pace - this is to give it suspense.

There are only 3 characters in my film. In the beginning, Ben (the main character) seems a bit idiotic, as he attempts to do magic tricks, and fails each time. This aspect of his personality is emphasised through his dad's bluntness and annoyance of this. It is also clear that Ben is an outsider in his house: He seems to be obsessed with being a magician, even though his living room is just a normal living room, there seems to just be a normal TV show on, his parents appear to be conventional people:



My short film also has a twist at the end. Before, it is clear that Ben is prepared to make his dad disappear. Just when it seems like he is going to do it, Ben's dad turns the mirror toward Ben, which causes Ben to accidentally make himself disappear:



This twist was inspired by the ending of the short film, "The Black Hole". In both cases, power causes the character who has it to go too far, which backfires on them.

The Black Hole:



Conventions of film posters: 

• Eye-catching and captivating to the audience 
• A focal picture that will draw in the audiences eye
• The title is displayed in a large, eye-catching font 
• Clearly defines the film's genre 
• Names of the cast
• Indication of when the film is being released - either a date or "coming soon" 
• Information on the directors and production company displayed in a billing block at the bottom of the poster 
• Reviews or titles of other films that the company has made 

This is my film poster: 

As you can see, I included all of the conventions I stated above, except for "titles of other films that the company has made", although I did give reviews of the film - both star reviews, and certificate reviews.  I also added a statement ("PREPARE TO BE AMAZED!") under the title - to give audience a better idea that the film is about magic. I also put a film certificate in the block at the bottom, indicating who can watch the film. Although the image is definitely eye-catching, it is unconventional in the sense that it is edited in that way to connect to old magician posters.

My Magazine Review

Conventions of magazine film reviews pages that I included are: 

• The film title in big letters 
• The title of the magazine at the top 
• A large image at the top of the page 
• The page number at a bottom corner 
• The Verdict 
• Another image, giving a glimpse of a scene in the film 
• Information of the release date, director and a synopsis 

I Included extra bits of writing on the magazine, like in the yellow circle, the small writing on the large image, and within the area of the actual review. This is not necessity for a magazine review, and is not one of the most common conventions, but it does improve it, in my opinion, as it makes it have more detail. 

These are two examples of real magazine film reviews that I got ideas from. I also researched how to write a film review.