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

Props, Sets and Locations can influence our interpretation of character as as contribute to the atmosphere of the film.

PROPS, SETS & LOCATIONS

Hurt Locker (2008)- Shot in Jordan just a few miles from the Iraq border.

FILM CONVENTIONS

Park

- Typical secluded environment (kidnapping occurs) – walking alone. No one to get help from. This conforms with the stereotype because most kidnappings happen in a secluded area.

- Ducks = peaceful serene – calm before the storm. Helps generate the anticipation. This shot was used to show even though she is about to get kidnapped the setting around her is showing its not as bad as it seems.

Classroom and Study Room

- Typical student environment. Establishes the character’s social status as a student. Place of learning – connotes achievement and ambition to succeed in life. However, while in these rooms she challenges the convention because she is using these rooms to socialize or not concentrate on her work.

Rooftop

- Unusual place for interrogation in an action film. Empty, unused location (dirt on the floor). Usually find dark room, small spaces, but this is open space, and light. However, the element of danger is still conveyed because of the starkness and the height.

SETTING

FILM FORM CONVENTIONS

CHARACTERISATION

FILM CONVENTIONS

(Move to character) Her disinterested attitudes suggests she is above the limited educational environment – she is intelligent (above normal teaching) and aspires further. We have two characters in our production (The Kidnappers). I would say they would be the characters classified as the unsympathetic characters. This is because, they are kidnapping Emily to use the formula she has created for their own good. The stereotypes used are for all characters. Emily is a stereotypical young girl that is vulnerable to being kidnapped. The Kidnappers are all wearing black and seem sinister. Finally, the Teacher and Zoe are secondary characters in the film because they are not involved. They all conform to their stereotypes.

A narrative might use:

• Sympathetic characters- With whom the audience strongly identifies with. They may share qualities and values.

• Unsympathetic Characters- Audience dislikes. May increase sympathy to main character.

• Stereotypes- Can reinforce existing ways of thinking about certain groups- appeal to the prejudices of the audience. However sometimes stereotypes are deliberately broken.

In our production, we decided to incorporate two antagonists who would be kidnappers – their costume became integral to their representation, as we wanted the audience to identify them as sinister with malevolent intent. For this reason, we chose costume designs which conformed to the stereotype, as it would convey the characterisation with immediacy. For instance, both characters are wearing ski masks and black clothing – items which signify they are keeping their identity safe, as they intend to engage in criminal activity.

COSTUMING

FILM CONVENTIONS

The protagonist of the scene, Emily, is intended to look professional. Ultimately she is the victim of the kidnappers, and so her clothing was intended to reinforce the stereotype of her film role. She plays the role of a teenage student scientist, somebody who typical fits the mold of a kidnapping targeted because of her knowledge, position and vulnerability. For example, this is found in the film “The Call” where the victim, Casey Welson (played by Abigail Breslin) is a middle class student kidnapped in a mall. Therefore, we selected items of costume which convey the sense of her social status – we used a long coat and generally she wore business styled attire to create an impression that she is a student who is career orientated. Her clothing helps establish the notion that she is not associated with acts of violence or crime, and when contrasted against the clothing of the kidnappers, it clearly established her susceptibility.

A narrative might to use:

•A linear Plot

(Events would occur in the same order they would occur in real life)

•Manipulation of time

(E.g.. Flashbacks- X- MEN Wolverine)

•Suspense

•(It is hinted something dramatic is going to happen)

PLOT

FILM CONVENTIONS

In The Formula we have tried to use three plot lines. We have used the manipulation of time many times by using flashbacks. Using this kind of editing in our two minute opening would be seen as going against media theory but over time films in media have used this technique and it has been used to create an atmosphere so that the audience is not quite sure what is going on. In a way this would challenge film convention but progressively the film industries have used this technique and made it normal to use. Therefore, I think it is not challenging the this film convention.

Lighting used in our production challenges the standard of Action/Thriller films. For our interrogation scene we used a rooftop instead of a confined dark room; the rooftop was large in surface area and instead of doing it late at night we did it during the day where it was light outside. We though it would be a good place to do an interrogation scene because the rooftop was not a scenic beautiful, it was dirty and stark. We thought the lighting would be good to challenge in this sort of way because it seemed frightening enough to a scene like that even it being light outside.

LIGHTING

FILM CONVENTIONS

In our opening we have used a soundtrack to create a tense atmosphere. We have done this to follow the Action/Thriller genre norm. These films usually create a tense atmosphere with the soundtrack used, so we have tried to use the same style to create this atmosphere. The type of soundtrack used is quiet but, it does not just blend in with the opening because we are using it to make the audience feel tense.

SOUND

FILM CONVENTIONS