In what ways does your media product use, develop or

challenge forms and conventions or real media

products?

Initial Research:

Before I began the process of producing my media products I knew that I would have to research thoroughly into existing media texts and audiences. Short films attracted me from the outset due to the amount of creativity that can be applied to the project. I began by researching existing media products

through Youtube. This was a very useful way of analysing how producers of texts create successful short films. Lovefield by Mathieu Ratthe was the most inspirational piece of filmaking I viewed during my

research. I partnered with Lorna Nellis to create a film together. Our film has been strongly influenced by Lovefield, in particular the subvertion of genre. Lovefield combines elements of horror, suspence and drama with a twist at the end. Ratthe succesfully adhered to genre conventions in Lovefield, until the ending. The audiences’ expectation is that the antagonist has killed someone in the field. The tension

building music hightens until it is revealed that the apparent victim is actually giving birth. In our film we followed the conventions the majority of horror/psychological thriller films to easily establish and target a

specific audience. Stricking imagery of the antagonist early on engages the audience with our film. As the protagonist runs away from the apparent stalker, we hope that audiences will asume that the stalkers

intentions are to do something horrible to the protagonist. We used visual iconography of the antagonist pulling something out his pocket which we hope audiences will asume is a weapon. He then pulls out the

purse she dropped. Although the audience may believe that the film is following a linear narrative the ending subverts the audiences expectations to create a much more impactful piece. We decided on creating an unexpected ending from watching lovefield as it prevents audiences from being passive

conumers of text.

In relation to my film:

It was important to research existing media products before starting the process of creating my own film. It helped me to understand what features and conventions of existing media products would work well in my own production work. I quickly realised that certain genres were generally more successful as short films. Horror and thriller genres were the most engaging their as narrative is

generally more simple and effective when the storyline is under ten minutes. I also had to consider the budget and resources I had available. I therefore chose against doing a comedy or action film as that would rely on good actors and a big budget. I also considered what genre amateur film makers like

myself chose when creating a film. Many chose horror and thriller and these genres produced the best short films. After deciding upon the genres I wanted to study further I researched existing media products on Youtube. Lovefield as stated in the previous slide is the text that we took the most

inspiration from. Parallels can be drawn from our finished film and Lovefield which will be discussed in the next slides. We liked the idea of following many conventions of a particular genre to create a dramatic twist at the end. As it says in the video description the story “takes the audience on a roller

coaster ride of emotions”.

Looking at the responses to Lovefield on Youtube indicated that many people enjoy the subversions of genre

Deconstructing Existing Media Products: LOVEFIELD- Horror/suspense/actionLighting•Dark/cold•Harsh•Natural

Camera Work•Close-up shots•Pan•Tilt•High/low angle•POV shots

Editing•Invisible editing•Fade to black at end

Sound•Dissonance•Tension building•Slow at start/climatic towards end•Goes from horror and tension during the middle to romance and tranquillity at the end

Characters•Crow•Old man•Pregnant lady•Baby

Costume and Props•Typical rural American (farmer)

•Dungarees •Knife

•Phone•Blood

Location•Isolated

•Rural•Countryside

•Field