MEDIA PRODUCT EVALUATION

FILM COMPARISON

The film starts with a black screen, and as the first phrase from the cello is played, the title on the right fades in. As this fades and the next phrase is played, a second title ‘A FILM BY…’ appears in a similar manner. It was hard to get the timings for this intro correct, as before this course I had never used Adobe Premiere, but I feel it has worked out very well. The fact the film starts off in this way with this particular piece of music hopefully gives a sense of obscurity and uneasiness, which I believe are familiar themes of a black comedy.

As this fades, a medium shot of the main character walking towards the camera fixing his coat and looking rather hurried in his actions takes the screen in time with the music. Two titles appear in this shot, which are the first titles to appear out of time with the music, and rather are in time with the appearance of a character and the fading of the shot, taking advantage of the black background that fills in-between shots. This appearance of titles is the first break in the form of my project, and I feel it shows that not everything is the way that it should be.

FILM COMPARISON

This next shot shows a change in setting, showing a medium-long shot of the secondary character wounded on the floor. What is important in this scene is not only to give context to the next scene, but also to show a change in time, that the sun is going down and evening is setting in. Throughout the opening shots, the evening gradually gets darker and darker. This is deliberate, as I believe it amplifies the darkness in the film, and contrasts the humour conveyed in the dialogue.

This medium shot of the secondary character brings us closer to the scene itself, and shows us the gravity of the situation. The space left on the screen has been used for another less-important title, so that the concentration is not taken off from the near-dead body on the ground. This shot again is darker than the previous shot, and the natural dim orange lighting of the streetlights gives a warm feel to the screen, contrasting the scene of sadness that is portrayed.

WHO WOULD BE THE TARGET AUDIENCE FOR YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT?

The target audience for my media product would most certainly be people who are interested in (slightly awful) Black Comedy genre films of all ages - the kind of people who know they’re going to hell and know it’ll be worth it. I tried to establish the genre straight away in my product as to not make it seem of a different genre, and jumped straight into the wooden humour so that the audience would know what the film would be like from the start. The sinister classical music, I feel, is a key component in creating the feel to a Black Comedy, and so Rachmaninoff’s Cello Sonata was perfect for this.

To answer the question in a colloquial manner, the target audience would be people who just really, really hate themselves enough to watch films as terrible as mine.

IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS OF REAL PRODUCTS?

My media product was of the Black Comedy genre, and so a lot of thought had to be put into it in terms of placement, lighting and of course, comedy. I feel my media product uses the idea of a Black Comedy in the traditional sense – something you really shouldn’t laugh at, but I also feel it challenges Black Comedy tradition in the sense that it is simply of a different style in some cases, that the lighting is more reflective and also asynchronous of the mood, that the humour is based around the unfortunate situation coupled with immaturity, and also that it just wasn’t great.

To answer the question in a colloquial manner, it was just really bad.

WHAT KIND OF MEDIA INSTITUTION MIGHT DISTRIBUTE YOUR PRODUCT?

The kind of media institution that may be interested in distributing my product would certainly have to be one willing to take risks, as the market for the rather narrow genre of Black Comedy is not very solid. Films such as ‘In Bruges’ and ‘Four Lions’ – some of the most iconic Black Comedy films out on the market today – were not particularly well-known or well-sold when they came out, and neither are they now. My film is not much better at all.

To answer the question in a colloquial manner, one with lots of money to waste on films like mine.