stephanie zantiras evaluation

7/31/2019 Stephanie Zantiras Evaluation

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Ma vie à LondresEvaluation by Stephanie Zantiras



1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms

and conventions of real media products?

I represented the close up shots convention of romantic comedy films by including several close ups in

my opening sequence. These close up shots are similar to shots that I noticed in Mean Girls, which is oneof the films that I researched when looking for conventions of romantic comedies. I created characters

the target audience can relate to: teenagers/students.

The bright lighting in the locker scene reflects the

typical mood of a romantic comedy which is happy

and positive. This is yet again similar to in Mean Girls,

as throughout Mean Girls bright lighting is used.

Conforming to conventions:

The font and colour of the

title match the happy theme

of a RomCom: a soft cursive

font that’s bright red.



Challenging conventions:

I challenged the “couple” idea

that’s usually in romantic

comedies as there are two guys

chasing one girl.

I didn’t immediately show a close

up of Monique, I used some long

shots to show her first to build up

a little bit of suspense.

Narrative theories:

Levi Strauss’

Binary

Opposition

Theory: Chrisand Rob are

the hero and

villain.

Versimilitude:

setting,

characters

and props,represent a

real life school

situation.

Enigma: the

audience is

left

wondering

what happens

after the boys

run up the

stairs.



2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Representing gender using high angle shots on Monique and low angle

shots on Chris and Rob. The boys seem superior to the girls.

Gender:

Ethnicity:

Using mise-en-scene to represent Monique is a French girl (beret) and

the boys are English lads (clothing).



3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product, why?

The film distribution company I would use to distribute my

product would be Working Title, because its parent company isUniversal, a well known and successful film company. Working

Title are also good because they have produced and distributed

other romantic comedy films, such as Wild Child, Bridget Jones:

The Edge of Reason and Love Actually.

Methods of distribution I would use would be to distribute to small multiplex

cinemas first, then distribute online on websites like Lovefilm and Netflix,because I want to make my film well known first, but still offer the opportunity for

people to watch it at home. I would soon afterwards distribute my film on DVD so

that anyone who falls under my target audience that did not see it at the cinema

or online can now watch it too.

I would consider distributing my film around Valentine’s Day in 2013, as it’s a

romantic comedy and most romantic comedies are released at this time, however I

might not do this there may be films out at the same time that people may preferover my film, which would lead to my film not being so popular. Alternatively I could

distribute my film during the summer holidays, as this is when my target audience

are more available, and this isn’t peak time for similar films. There are some films

coming out over the summer in 2010, however only a few specifically romantic

comedies: One For The Money, LOL, The Five Year Engagement and What To Expect

When You’re Expecting.



4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

Profiles of members of our target audience:

• Name: Andrea Georgiou

• Age: 15• Interests: Acting, Singing

• Music: You Me At Six, All Time Low

• Books: The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Twilight

• Films: Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging, Mean Girls,Hairspray

• Name: Tom Hart

• Age: 17

•

Interests: Skateboarding, Football• Music: Rizzle Kicks, Professor Green

• Books: Storm Breaker, The Da Vinci Code, The Girl WhoDisappeared Twice

• Films: Shaun of the Dead, What Happens In Vegas

Using the following guidelines from the BBFC I have made the certification of my product 12:

Discrimination: no discrimination involved. The boys use “mademoiselle” and “senorita” sarcastically, but only in a playful way.

Drugs: none involved at all.

Horror: none involved at all.

Imitable behaviour: none involved at all.

Language: no swearing involved.

Nudity: none involved at all.

Sex: no sex involved, the boys make kiss actions at Monique, and look at her in a way that makes it obvious they find her

attractive, but these are not suggestive in any way.

Theme: no unsuitable or inappropriate involved.

Violence: none involved; the boys have a short verbal argument, with them putting their hands on each other’s shoulders, but

neither one is hurt.



5. How did you attract/address your audience? I have made the product appealing to the audience by representing likeable protagonists through camera shots and script.

I have created a pleasant piece of music for the soundtrack for out sequence.

My use of music attracts the audience because it is the same tune that runs throughout the sequence at different levels of volume, but it is an upbeat, cheerful piece of music which is appropriate to the easygoing characters and the school

setting in the summer.

My titles inform the audience of my product well because the title is the first thing on the screen, followed by the names of

the main cast members, the directors, the editors and the music producers. My titles inform the audience of the genre

well because the colour is red, which in this context is a bold colour that also represents love. Also, the font is slightly

cursive and thin, demonstrating a relaxing, fluid film will follow.

I have represented the genre well, as I have conventions of romance, which are the seductive looks from the boys to

Monique, the dialogue about how much Chris and Rob fancy Monique, and the kiss action Rob makes towards Monique. I

have also included conventions of a comedy, which are funny dialogue e.g. when the boys quarrel over who is bettersuited for Monique, and funny actions e.g. when Monique walks past the boys and they turn their heads as she passes

them.

My characters have represented the romance genre through their dialogue: “Hello Mademoiselle” and the boys’ actions of

running after Monique. My characters have represented the comedy genre through their dialogue and actions in scene 3,

where Chris and Rob quarrel humorously over Monique, before chasing her out of the locker room. These factors

collectively have attracted the audience because they are funny and appealing.

My mise-en-scene has attracted my audience because the setting is appropriate for the genre, the props are appropriate

to the characters, the lighting is appropriate to the mood of the film and the music is appropriate to the film genre. These

make the product appealing because they satisfy the ideas that the audiences have about what they expect a romanticcomedy film to include. Cultivation theory could be applied here, as people have had ideas injected into their minds about

stereotypes, and this has had a lasting effect on their judgements.



6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing

this product?

To film my opening sequence, I used:• A still camera (for the shot of the bell)

• A Canon 600D camera (for filming)

• A tripod (for filming long takes)

• A camera rig (for filming panning shots)

• A dolly (for filming tracking shots)

•

A microphone (for audio).

To edit my opening sequence, I used:

• LiveType (for titles and subtitles)

• iMovie (for initial editing of footage)

• FinalCut (for more precise editing of footage)

• PhotoShop (for editing photos for the montage and the shot of the school bell)

• GarageBand (for the creation of the soundtrack).



I developed skills when filming my product; I learned how to apply a camera onto a rig, a tripod and a

dolly. I learned how to change the settings on and use a microphone. When editing my product, I

developed the skills of learning how to use LiveType, iMovie, FinalCut and GarageBand, all software I had

never previously used.

When editing my product, I used many different editing techniques. I uploaded my footage into iMovie,

selected the footage I wanted and put it in order. Then I uploaded that into FinalCut and more precisely

cut parts from each piece of footage, then put that together. Once I did this for all 4 scenes, I used iMovie to

create a montage of images I’d already edited in PhotoShop, using the Photo Album setting. I then

uploaded this into FinalCut and added it to the beginning of my sequence. I then made the titles and

subtitles in LiveType, before adding them into FinalCut, putting the titles in the montage and the subtitles

in the appropriate place in the sequence. I then uploaded the voiceover into FinalCut, and cut the

sentences separately so I could put them in the right place in the sequence individually. After this, I usedGarageBand to create the soundtrack, and added this over the footage.



7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in

the progression from it to the full product?

Equipment: I learned how to use a camera, a tripod and a microphone. Ilearned how to obey the 180 degree rule here, as I made sure I didn’t cross the

line. I also made sure the actors didn’t move so I could achieve match on action.

stephanie zantiras evaluation

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