Conventions of a Comedy Genre...

Setting:
- The setting of a comedy film usually depends on what kind of comedy it is, for example a romantic comedy.
-Generic places of comedies usually consists of high populated place such as, cities, towns and usually bright sunny places.
-Social comedy: homes, bars, clubs
-Teen comedy: usually set in high schools and small towns.

Characters:
-Usually the main character is an idiot, very accident prone, unlucky.
-Smart people in these films are usually socially awkward, to ensure comedy is involved
-Regular people in the films are associated with accidents and usually sarcastic characters.

Themes:
-Gross out
-Parody
-Anarchic comedy
-Slap stick
-Romantic comedy

Main events:
-A family man who wants to escape his life
- Adventure in trying to get a girl who is seen to be out of their league
-Can associate with drugs and escaping the police etc.
-Unlucky man wanting more and to change his luck and life.

Target audience:
-This kind of film can be for any age depending the type of comedy.

Conventions of a Romance Genre

Main events:
-Usually obsessive parent, which is the main characters parent. They usually meddle up in the main character's love life, setting them up with opposite personalities etc.
-Bad things happens the two main characters.
-Involves the break ups and divorce either between the main character or the one they are going after.
-love scenes are always involved, which follow the conventions of a typical romance
-State of equilibrium, so everything is normal (normality)
- Usually meet someone, in everyday place etc.
-Aimed at a female audience
- Usually involves weddings, hearts and flowers, which all are symbolic for love
-A typical romance gnere would include sexuality status, gender and relationships. These relationships usually are on the rocks, which the storyline of the film is about trying to fix it.
-Often the film directors use other genre elements, such as comedy, in their films
-They are as realistic as possible, so that they are relatable and can get to the audience's emotional side.
-Often a voiceover used to introduce the story, either the main character's
-The first appearance of a character is usually the main character of the film, either the lover of the the one they want to get
-Mise en scene used: flowers, wedding rings, hearts, roses, love letters, present to entice the one they love
-Hints within the film suggesting they would be a perfect match for each other, e.g. both like a weird interest.
-The boy meets the girl scenario, traditional love story
- Set in numerous periods, older times to nowadays
-Arguements at the beginning, break up, then the rest of the film is trying to reunite them, however there re numerous obstacles within the way

Target audience:
-Usually aimed at a female audience because stereotypically love is associated with the female gender rather than a male, which prefer action and horrors.
-The age ranges from 12 and up as this gives young girls hope of finding love.

Conventions of an Action Genre

Main events:

-Usually is when the hero or main character of the film has to go through numerous challenges, to reach their goals. This usually involves fights, guns, drugs, and lots of chase scenes and fight scenes.

-Victory is usually achieved at the end of the film, where good becomes victorious over villains.

-A love scene is usually part of these films. There is always a woman who the main character wants and usually gets in the end.

-Lots of fight and chase scenes

-The bad guy/ villain is usually someone from another race e.g. korean

-The main character usually has near death experiences, for example if people are shooting at them they somehow miss all the bullets.

-A friend of the main character usually become injured and even die.

- Main character usually male, which is to attract the male audience more as they can imagine themselves being in the position of the main character.

Setting/Location:

-Usually all the action takes place in an exotic abroad location. 

-Begins in a normal place, usually to relate to the people in the audience so they can escape from everyday life.

-Usually use of big expensive buildings, which are own by the villains.

Camera shots:

-Usually fast cutting editing is involved to build up tension and suspense. This is also to add chaos and panic which would reflect to the audience. 

-Quite a few long shots are usually present in these action films to show all the locations of where the characters are.

-Slow cut editing for romantic parts in when the hero gets their lover.

Sound:

-Lots of gun shot noises

-Car skidding and police sirens during car chases.

-Explosions and devastation

Props:

-Guns and explosives

-Sports cars and high tech vehicles

Target audience:

-Males are usually the target audience of an action film as stereotypically they males are more attracted to the risk factor, involving violence, drugs, car chases etc.

-Males can associate and relate to action films as they can imagine themselves being the main character, for example, James Bond. 

-Usually targeted at ages between 15-40 years of age.

Conventions of a Horror genre

AS Coursework Reflection- Using conventions from real media texts

It is was important that features in our production conformed with the stereotypical horror film as it would appeal to our target audience. However we did conform to all the conventions of a horror as we wanted to experiment on what looked effective and what didn't look so ideal. These conventions range from using a male antagonist, to using blood and gore to attract the audience.

In what ways does your media product use, develop, challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our media production was mostly inspired by the film 'The Strangers' directed by Bryan Bertino, which involves three antagonists taunting a new wedded couple. The three antagonists all wore masks; a two china dolls masks and someone with an old woven bag over their head, which is where we were inspired to use an antagonist similarly to this antagonist. Our production used many of the conventions which are within a horror film, for example, we showed a sneak peak of gore, which is stereotypically present within horrors. Using this would therefore generally intrigue more a of an make audience. We also used the conventions of having our antagonist masked, as it hides the identity of our antagonists therefore creating an enigma, which real media products use to increase the suspense and to sometimes use a plot twist. We also used a everyday household which allows the audience to associate with the film more as they can relate to this happening to them, which again, is a convention which real media products use. Furthermore we used many other elements which feature within stereotypical horror films, such as the protagonist being portrayed as innocent (by them being a young lady and the use of clothing), the use of involving gore, the locations, the use of clothing throughout the film, and many many more elements. However, we developed the use of some camera shots such as using the unusual under the water shot, which could be seen as us challenging the conventions of the real media products as they do not use as much of these shots.

In what ways has your production used or developed conventions from real media products?
As I have said, we had used many elements which feature within a stereotypical horror film, therefore making our film effective and very professional looking. We used such elements as the use of gore, a masked antagonist, countless close up shots to build up tension, location of having scary but everyday places and many more things. Following these conventions portrayed a clear genre of our opening two minutes, meaning there would be no confusion on what genre it is, which can be a partial cause to a failure of a film. However the use of having the under the water shot showed how we developed conventions as we started using more unusual shots, which was fairly difficult as we needed to keep the continuity of the film.

In what ways has your products challenged or played with conventions?
Our production we produced didn't really challenge or play with the conventions of a horror film. We decided that we should stick to the conventions of horrors and develop some parts, therefore making it unique to us. Challenging the conventions would be easier to show if we had longer than two minutes, however we didn't have this luxury. However, to challenge the conventions we could of had the antagonist taking off the mask at the end of the opening two minutes, as this would shock the audience as they found out who the antagonist is from the outset, or is there a plot twist...

Is your work generic or experimental or both?
Some parts of our work was experimental as we needed to see what would work and what shots didn't, meaning elements of our work was experimental. We experimented with different shots from high to low angled, to extreme close ups to long shots, this allowed us to see which shots were best and more effective. We also experimented on the special effects, props used during filming, costumes and the locations of the film. However our work was mainly generic as it followed the conventions of a stereotypical horror film.

Have you developed a style?
Our opening involved a lot of the stereotypical conventions of a horror, meaning that we didn't create a new style. Although, we didn't create a new style, we ensured that we made the film as effective and as professional as we  could.

Have you been influenced by the work of specific directors?
Well, I am a massive fan of horrors, even though they make me scared, I just love the adrenaline they create. This means I have watched countless horrors, meaning I could use my cinematic experience for our production. This meant, during the research phase, we could make numerous ideas, which were influenced by our past knowledge of horrors we have watched, which made it easier for use to generate storyboards and images of what our production was going to look like. We were influenced by a few directors within the film film industry, such as; Bryan Bertino, the director of 'The Strangers', Scott Derrickson, the director of 'Sinister' and finally, James Wan, director of many horrors, for example, 'The Conjuring', 'Insideous' and the serial films 'Saw'. These directors influenced us in different ways but the biggest influence was Bryan Bertino's 'The Strangers', as our antagonist was based mostly on the antagonist within in Bertino's film. We were so influenced by this film as it was so realistic, which made the audience, including me, to think that this could actually happen, due to the antagonist clothing being so everyday and using a household location of where all the horrifying true events occurred. The antagonist in 'The Strangers' wore a tattered old brown suit, which made the character frightening as it was an everyday outfit what people could where during a normal day. They also wore a mask to cover their identity, but also having only black eye holes for on the mask, further increases the scariness of the antagonist. We decided that this antagonist would be ideal for our production, which is why we used a brown towel for the mask with a stitched face on it and a brown jacket and jumper, which made our antagonist look horrifying, especially as you only see him in the last shot of the whole production. Not only did 'The Strangers' influenced us but also the director of 'Insideous', as having used a household location, it would make the film more relatable, as the audience would think this could happen to them; therefore increasing the adrenaline and tension the film creates. Insideous also uses an innocent family, which makes the audience feel sympathetic for them, which is why we used a young lady, as we thought the audience would appeal more to her. Both James Wan and Scott Derrickson, also involved countless jumpy parts, which would make the audience jump, which we wanted to include in ours, so we did. What all three of these directors used were a range of different camera shots, including POV (point of view) shots panning long shots etc. This really attract us, as media students, as we wanted to put inventive and creative shots in our production, similarly to all three of these directors. Whatever the horror is,these three directors all explore new ways of intriguing their target audience, through the use of camera shots to even just the storyline and plot of the film; they are inspirational.

AS Coursework Reflection- Post Production

AS Reflection Page- Post production

The post production was where we uploaded our final opening two our blogs and onto YouTube; allowing our audience to watch and offer us with feedback. This feedback would enable us to see what our target audience thought about the film; from what they liked and what they didn’t like. This feedback would be taken into account so we could use it for our next production, which will be produced in our A2 year.

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

During the research and planning phase, we needed feedback for many aspects, such as, our initial ideas, what the antagonist would look like and so on. To determine these, we designed a questionnaire, which would answer all the queries we needed to resolve. This allowed us to see our target audience input, so we could design our production around what they suggested to us. This showed us how important the feedback from our audience was as it provided us with new ideas but also aided us in developing old ideas.  After our audience previewed our opening two minutes, the response we gained was very positive and encouraging. The feedback at this stage was vitally important as it would represent how well we achieved and manufactured our opening two minute. It would also provide us with an idea of what we needed to improve on for next year, even it was meniscal. The audience stated that they loved the range of shots we used as they built up continuous tension, which kept them on the edge of their seats. We also learnt that they liked how we ended it on a cliff-hanger, as it created numerous enigmas, therefore making the audience wanting to know more; increasing the popularity of the film. The only negative piece of feedback we got was the use of the piano in the background music, as it was slightly out of sync, which we will ensure we get correct next time.  As this feedback was all very encouraging, it has given us confidence and determination in making an even better production for our A2 course.

What editing decisions were made?  How did they inform the production?

There were a few editing decisions which we applied to our production, so that it would be fluent, so no disruptions throughout the production. Firstly, during the wood scene there is a POV shot, (point of view shot), which originally we weren’t going to have this in the opening, as we thought it was too blurry when we filmed it. However, when we uploaded the shots onto the computer, our multiplatform device, we thought it would fit perfectly within in our production. Therefore we applied a match on action shot, to ensure continuity but also to show our ability of editing.  Further on during the editing stages, we realised we had a filming mistake, as the light was switched on in one scene, but the next shot was her turning the light on. This meant we had to somehow remove this mistake, which was reasonably challenging, however we did find a way. We first cropped out the pause of in which commenced before our actor turning the light on, which made it seem like the protagonist was just touching the switch. We then cut the ending of the shot before so the shots would flow into each other, which worked reasonably well; however, if we had more time we would have probably reshot this scene. Another decision we had to make during the editing stages was how we were going to fit the underwater shot, as it was an unusual shot to have. This meant we added the shots of our protagonist turning on the tap as it would introduce what the girl was doing.  We used match on action to make the scene flow, which was where we made the cut weep with blood so we could follow the blood drop into the water. The finally decision we had to make, in terms of editing, was the placement and transition of the font. This was important to take into account as we didn’t wasn’t the titles to disrupt the atmosphere we created. This entailed lots of experimenting of transition and where to place the fonts, which in the end we decided to be them either at the bottom left or bottom right. We also discovered that just by using a simply fade in; fade out transition was ideal for our opening, as they did not distract you from the main focus, which was the images on screen.  However, we had challenges to overcome, there weren’t too many editing decisions we had to make, which could be due to the extensive planning and research we did before the filming and editing stages.

What particular editing tools were used and to what effect?

There were many editing tools we used during this phase, such as the cropping and cutting tool. This allowed us to cut out section of the video we didn’t wish to have present in it; for example, when shots were too long we were be able to cut them down to make them shorter. This tool also enabled us to cut out sounds within the shot, as some of the shots had us directing our actor, which meant we had to remove them and replace them with diegetic and non- diegetic sounds. This meant we could see all the sounds which were present in the shot, meaning we could remove what was necessary. Another editing tool we used was the transition tool, which allowed us to apply transition between shots, ensuring we kept continuity throughout our film. This tool supplied us with a range of transition, from fade in’s to random bars fades, which meant we had a lot to choose from. In the end we chose the fade in and fade out transition, as it suggested a time change, which was ideal for our production as we used two locations. For our opening two minutes we had to provide titles, as this conforms to any opening two minutes, which meant we had to use the font tool. This allowed us to convert the font we designed in ‘Photoshop’, to our film, which we then were able to place the font wherever we wanted them to go. The tool also allowed us to resize and the font, which we beneficial as when we converted the font on Adobe, the image was very large. As we converted our font, it meant that the background colour was present, which meant we had to use the transparent tool. This was a simple tool which made the background transparent, therefore shot the video behind it, meaning our title’s appearance were professional looking and high quality. There were also special effects tool, where they consisted of various effects, such as a stabilising tool, which made the shots become stable. We didn’t have to use this effect as we used a tripod during our filming stage, meaning fewer things to worry about during our editing stages. However we did use a few special effects, which changed a filter of the shot, but we didn’t use many as we could use the filtering tool for this. The final tool we used was the filtering tool, which was where you could change the saturation, filter and lighting the shots. This meant the shots we filmed when the natural light was disappearing, were edited so that the lighting was the same as the other shots. This tool also allowed us to make our shots look eerie and mysterious, which create an uncomforting atmosphere which we wanted, due to it being a horror.

How did the post production process enhance the overall production?

The post production process allowed us to adapt and change the shots, after filming in our chosen locations. This meant that we didn’t have to return to the locations as we had the option to transform the shots by using the special effects, provided by Adobe Premiere Elements. At the beginning of this process, it allowed us to look through the shots we captured during the filming process, meaning we could keep and discard shots which we didn’t think would fit the continuity of our film. Furthermore, if we deleted or discarded any shots which we decided we wanted to keep, we could retrieve them from the delete box, which helped massively. Even though this took a long period of time, it allowed us to edit accurately and ensured that the editing techniques used, such as match on action, were correctly cropped and flowed together. This phase also was where we had to make the music which suited the production, which also took a long time. However, as we had filmed all the shots we needed, it helped us what kind of music was needed. This meant we could watch what we edited and then apply the correct music for the shots, either diegetic or non-diegetic. Although this took a long period of time it enabled us to compare each shot with each other, meaning we could be sure that we picked the better shot; which made it ideal as we wanted to make the best opening two minutes as we could; therefore enhancing the overall production. During this process it meant that we could also review what we had done and if any shots needed any special effects, which ensured continuity for our film, again, enhancing our overall production. Once we thought we had complete our opening two minutes, we watched the opening two minutes, as if we had never seen it before, which would meant that we could pick out parts which we thought that didn’t either make sense, affected the effectiveness or continuity of the film or if we just didn’t like the shot. Acting as if we were in our target audiences shoes, meant we could deleted, develop or decide which shots we wanted and the ones which we didn’t; making it an effective enhancing way to finished our opening two minutes to the best of our abilities.

AS Coursework Reflection- Research and Planning

AS Reflection Page- Research and Planning

Research and planning was one of the longest phase we had throughout the whole process. This was where we had to analyse many opening of films made by various film institutions which would give us an insight of what we could use within ours. Without this phase we would not have been able to complete or even start to produce an opening two minutes, as this phase would determine what was going to be involved and how we were going to do it.

What real media and audiences did you look at?

Once we finalized the genre we were going to use, we needed to decide what certificate the film would be, as it would help determine what audience we would be targeting. We would either have picked a certificate 15 or 18 as these are what horror films are usually targeted at, as certificate 12 is usually only contains mild horror, which wasn’t ideal for what we were going to include. We decided our film was going to be targeted at 15 year olds and above, (so certificate 15), as it would provide us with a larger target audience, meaning an increase in popularity. This therefore meant we could make our film as scary as possible, but not as gruesome as a certificate 18 film. We then researched what this age group would expect to see, for example, they like there to have scary elements, featured within the film, which we needed to ensure we had present. We also looked at official film websites to see what they did during the marketing campaign, such as, watching the official trailers. Furthermore we looked at previous horror film opening’s on YouTube, so we could see the reactions and comments of our target audience, so we could take their dislikes and likes into account for our opening film.

How did they inform your thinking about your media production?

We always had to remember what audience we were targeting, in regards of what contents we could and couldn’t include, within our opening two minutes. As it was target for 15 year olds and above, it meant that we couldn’t have too much gore or blood during our production, as it would not be appropriate for our audience. However, we did include a little gore, such as, the blood on the protagonist’s hand, which follows the conventions of a horror, but also creates an enigma. The target audience research also helped us to avoid shots the audience did not like, which would hopefully make our opening two minutes more popular. The real media research allowed us to see what previous international horror films had done, as it would show us what shots they used and how effective each of them were. This again means we know what the audience does not like and what they do like.

How did you record all that research?

The real media research was recorded on the software called ‘Blogger’. This allowed us to see all the research we had done, so we can reflect and look back on what we achieved and what we needed to do for our opening horror. However, to find out what our target audience liked and expected in a horror opening two minutes, we sent out questionnaires’ to the public to fill in. This meant we could collect the data and form graphs to show the comparison between categories. Therefore, it was easier to see what we required for our film. Using graphs and data allowed us to present our research nicely and clearly, so it was crystal clear on what our target audience preferred. We then uploaded our research onto our blogs, to add to our development of our production.

What primary research was undertaken?

The primary research we recorded was analysing opening two minutes of films; from rom-coms’ to action. This allowed us to see what genre we wanted to do and saw what each genre consisted of. This analysis gave us an initial idea of what shots were used and the effects of each of them, within the opening minutes. This then led us to generating ideas of the storyline and plot of the story, as this would then lead us onto the second research, which is where we went into fine detail. Deciding what the plot would involve, caused us a struggle as we came up with numerous ideas. However, as I have said, we made questionnaires, which helped us choose which idea to champion for.

 What secondary research was undertaken?

After choosing which genre we wanted to do, had to begin to dig deeper, in finer detail. This is where we started to analyse costumes from antagonists in horrors released by industries, which generated a design for what our antagonist would look like. We also looked into what the protagonist characters wore, when they were safe and when they were covered in blood. After analysing film openings and producing designs for our antagonists and protagonists costumes, we began to commence secondary research. This is where we had to find the location, or in our case, two locations, which was very important as it would affect the entire atmosphere of the film. This lead to us researching make up tutorials, in which I experimented on making cuts and bruises-very effective.

How did it inform the production?

This research became the basis and foundation of what our opening two minutes was going to be like. This allowed us to see the development from our initial ideas to our final production. Furthermore, the research told us what we could include, regarding the age certificate, what would be effective to use for clothing for each character, as different colours and object connotes different meanings etc.

How effectively were the storyboards/ shot lists / scripts followed?

The storyboards we created were hand drawn and was put into an animated format, which meant we could keep the story on repeat, meaning we could easily flick through what shot we needed to use and what the shots were meant to look like. The storyboard allowed us to see what our opening two minutes was going to look like and was basically the instructions on what to film. These also had information written below the picture, which gave information, on the duration of the shot, what shot will be used, the sounds within the film and even if there was dialogue present in the shot. This made it easy on what we had to do as it gave a step by step method; but how effectively did we follow it. Well, we did use the storyboard very accurately, apart from a few shots as these disrupted the continuity of the film. This meant we had to discard them and use different shot types, which would make the opening two minutes fluent and continuous.

The shot lists we produced told has how to do the shots and what shots gave what effect, for example close up shots meant that whatever the camera is focusing on, had some sort of significance or was used to increase tension. This meant we could refer back to this list if we needed to reassure the effects of each shot. During the filming process, we did substitute a few shots into the opening two minutes, such as the low angled shot under the water, as it was a much more effective shot than others.

We also made a script for our opening two minutes, which mainly consisted of description rather than dialogue. This was because we wanted to build continuous suspense until the horrifying cliff-hanger at the end. However the description within the script allowed us to direct our actor on where to be, her posture, body language and expressions, which made it easier for us to direct. We followed the script reasonably well, as it aided us with filming; however we didn’t need it as much as the storyboard and shot lists, as these gave us more information during the filming phase.