Evaluation: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The aim of my project was to create a media piece that was a combination of both conventional and unconventional aspects and incorporate these aspects into both my main product and my ancillary products.


Conventional features I've incorporated into my product include my characters, plot and stylistic elements such as the soundtrack and editing. Primarily my characters follow the theory of character archetypes, such as the hero and villain and so is quite conventional and my stylistic choices in the soundtrack, with dramatic and suspenseful tracks to heighten the action, the editing is also conventional in that it goes for a slightly grim look, achieved through colour correction and the use of angles and shot composition, much like many modern action films that try to portray war as a grim and un-heroic thing.


However I've developed upon these conventional features by adding my own changes, such as not pointing out immediately who the hero and villain were, which I believes is an advantage to my product seeing as there are few characters and so it is easier for the audience to connect with all characters on screen by not having one which is clearly the 'bad' character. I also tried to be slightly unconventional in that the location the majority of the film takes place in is not a battlefield or a fight but in an average house, an unconventional location for most action films.


I haven't done much in the way in challenging conventions in my media product, this was mainly due to time constraints when planning which meant there was little time to plan any big unconventional aspects and we instead focus on the production of the short before any cleaver twists of convention.

Evaluation: What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Audience feedback played a secondary role in my production though it was still important in some decisions. Especially in some of the design choices that went into my ancillary products. It also assisted in my wanted to appeal to my target demographic.

It is important when creating a media product not to allow my biases to get in the way, though I have my own ideas on what I want my work to be, I must appeal to a target audience in order to appeal to an audience other than just myself, therefore with aspects such as font, imagery and title I approached my audience and asked what they liked out of a selection, often chosen through online polls.

The most notable aspect chosen by audience feedback was the title of my media product, eventually chosen to be Behind Enemy Lines, at first I had a few titles that could have been possibilities. After an online poll I distributed to my target audience they chose the title 'Behind Enemy Lines'.

A media theory that ties into this aspect of my media is White's theory of 'Gatekeeping', he stated that as a media producer I decide what my audience get and how, I am the gatekeeper to my audiences perception, for example, by showing my main character doing something heroic, my audience will see him as a hero, by showing my villain only being a bad guy, my audience will see him as a villain. Though this theory mostly applies to larger corporations with much more influence through their products, it is important to keep this theory in mind because I do have an influence, even if only a little, on my audience.

It wasn't just my questions to my audience that played a part in the production of my product but criticisms that were brought to my as well. The most prominent change brought by audience criticism was that the first draft of my video looked 'uncinematic' without aftereffects and so I went and added aspects like colour correction and black bars to enhance the cinematic quality of my product.

Evaluation: How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

During the creation of my media product I used a variety of technologies during the research, planning and construction stages to both assist in the production of my media product and to expand on my abilities and understanding of the various media technologies at my disposal.

Research:
 To go about researching my media product I used various websites, for tutorials I made extensive use of YouTube as it has a large community of filmmakers and thus many tutorials on film making. For example I used tutorials to learn how to use software that would assist later on. In another stage of my research I used an internet polling website to collect audience feedback on aspects of my design and through this website could easily collect data that made my research much easily than using a physical survey.


Planning:
 Most of my planning was done electronically, using programs such as notepad to make plans and record to-do lists. I also used messenger apps such as Skype to coordinate with my cast and crew and features which allowed to set group reminders meant we were all aware of where we were supposed to be and when. To present my planning I used the website blogger, it allowed me to keep a clear record and organize all my research and other work in one place and present it in a neat and professional way.


Construction:
 During the initial filming phase of the construction of my media work I used a variety of media technologies. I used a Nikon DSLR for filming with two separate lenses, a standard and a prime lens, these allowed me to film a variety of shots with aspects of my choosing in focus, either the entire screen (with the standard lens) or specific points (with the prime lens). Both knowing which equipment to use in addition to the camera and how to use it were both very important, in addition to the DSLR I used a tripod, steady cam and a phone for audio recording.

In editing I at first used Final Cut Express to edit, this is powerful software with a wide range of applications and is very versatile for what I wanted to do, while I was used to using this software from previous media work the rendering times were creating major problems in time management so I switched to Adobe Premiere Pro. This software was completely new to me and took time and research to learn to use. However, after I got used to it I found it much more powerful and useful in what I wanted to do, with all video and audio editing done in the program and all after effects created and added in the program.


 

Finished Short Film: Behind Enemy Lines

Second ancillary product: Magazine feature

Evaluation: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

I wanted my ancillary products to link stylistically to my main product and for my ancillary to support my main. The theme I was going for was one of contrast, my poster and review were to promote the product as a sort of idealistic 'war is good', standard action film, sort of what would have been seen back in the 1960s. This was to contrast with the actual product which has very little of that, how it's a simple story of a man trying to escape being hunted. I achieved this by creating a clichéd image for my poster, one that can be seen in both film and reality, a soldier proudly holding his flag, in comparison in the actual product the same character is on the run, not proud or defiant but trying to escape the war. The review was done in a way to also reinforce the message of the poster and create contrast, with it being described as a standard action film and reflecting through its words and imagery the same feel the poster was trying to get across. I did however try to hint towards the real message of the product in the tag line featured on the poster, 'war comes home' trying to emphasize the fact that the character can't escape it.


My second piece of ancillary work, the magazine feature, links into my main product by incorporating screenshots of the product and adding sections of description which describe the product. These work as teasers for the main product and increase the likelihood that a reader would want to view my product.

From a technical standpoint, I linked my main and ancillary products through the use of the same visual themes, prominent use of militaristic imagery, camouflage and weapons primarily. To use any other imagery would have disrupted the tone of my product and also constituted a major continuity error between what's seen on the poster and what's in the product which are supposed to be around the same time featuring the same character. I also used similar fonts and the same logos across all related products to maintain continuity and easily identify and unify the products through shared imagery and themes.

Production Company Logos

To give my poster and short film a professional touch I have chosen to create and incorporate some production company logos I have made on photoshop to credit two video companies and an audio company.