1. A2 Media Studies
Advanced Portfolio Evaluation
Reece Garside
Fatal Choices

2. In what ways does my media product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
After researching into the codes and conventions of of short films, one point became very clear. Short films will generally only feature 1-2
characters. For example in the short films I watched, such as ‘Still Life’ and ‘LOOP’, there are only 1-2 characters. Like these films, within my
short film, I have only included 2 characters - one whose time on screen is very brief. By having a minimal number of characters, the audience
are able to engage and connect with them in the short amount of time they are given. This then argues that my media product follows the
conventions of a short film. However, when you start to break down the characters in my film, they begin to challenge the conventions of any
film, let alone a short film. In a film, it is expected that a male be the hero and the female be the heroine. However, I decided that I wanted to
break these conventions, and present two very different female characters. After researching into it, and looking at feature length films such as ’
Salt’ and ‘Kill Bill’, the women are presented as masculine and strong. This was something that I wanted to portray in my film. To achieve this, I
used two female characters and no males. This posed a question as to how would the audience distinguish the difference between the stronger
and the weaker female. To do so, I killed off one of the females in the end of the film. The way in which it was carried out, I feel was also
unconventional. The clean, painless method of poison - thus connoting the creativity and knowledge the female has. Yet being a stereotypically
male thing (murder), the female character goes against the conventions of females. As for the weaker female, she is presented in a very
monotone, repetitive fashion. The shots of her doing very mediocre, average activities separates her from the other female character. However,
she is given importance in her role via the work like clothes - the smart dress and makeup connotes that she is of a high position and has an
important role in life. This is further emphasised by the characters accessories such as the folders and documents. In contrast to this, the
weaker female is recognised as being weak, due to her OCD routines. The carefully framed shots, of her arranging thing and doing everything
in order connote a certain weakness about her - the fact that she is ruled by routine and this then leads to her downfall and death.

3. In what ways does my media product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
Other ways in which my short film uses the codes and conventions, is by featuring a twist at the end.
Another common feature that my research suggested a short film must have, as it keeps the audience
entertained for the short period of time, and affords them the feeling that they have watched something
short that still has meaning and a story behind it. The twist in my film is not known until the very last
shot. Throughout the film, the audience hear the voice, of who they believe to the person on the
screen. This is due to the fact that the narrative and the shots are parallel. However, as the film nears
the end, the audience learns that the hit man is intact carrying out a hit at this very point in time. This
begins to shroud the film with mystery as they know nothing of the hit - and if they think the film is
about to end, they would not get to see the hit unfold and take place. This is where my twist comes in.
In the very last shot, the audience are introduced to a new character. This character is seen in full, and
has the same voice as the narrator. This is the narrator. If the audience had been paying attention,
they would understand that the person they have been watching get ready, was in fact the target, and
this character at the very end, is in fact the hit man and has carried out the murder. The audience have
been watching the victim getting ready to die.
My short film also uses a niche storyline to add to the singularity of the film. From my research, it
became clear that a short film usually strayed away from mainstream story lines and focused on
alternative and ‘creative’ stories. The message behind the short film is usually personal to the director
or highly unusual. For my case, I have approached it from the unusual aspect - with one female hit
man, contract killing another female.

4. In what ways does my media product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
One way I have developed real media products is through the narrative. Having researched narrative
theory and narrative structure, I began to gain an understanding of the different types of narrative and
how I could use them to tell my story and present my short film. My film uses a linear narrative, with a
clear beginning, middle and end. However, I have not applied Todorov’s theory of equilibrium. Throughout
my short film, there is no problem that any of the characters face, therefore nothing needs to be overcome
to reach a state of equilibrium. This theory is common within the short film, however, for my story, having
a small amount of time would not have allowed me to create a realistic problem or challenge that a hit
man would need to overcome. I personally feel it would have been too much to fit in, therefore, I applied a
smooth narrative, explaining almost the day in the life of a hit man.
An aspect that I have challenged through my short film, is the titles. After looking at numerous short films,
a number of them had the titles placed over live footage. However, in my film, I have incorporated my
titles into the film in a much more creative way. The opening shot is a POV shot through the eyes of the
protagonist. The way my titles work, is that as the character is waking up, she blinks. This slow blinking
(cliche of waking up), going into a black screen, afforded me the chance to place the titles onto the
screen. I feel like this is a clever method for titles as it is time effective, as it takes nothing away from the
narrative.

5. How effective is the combination of my main and ancillary texts?
Poster
When analysing my short film and my main poster together as a unit - I feel that the synergy
between the two is very strong. Although I have subverted the traditional conventions of using
a character (either a still from the film or a studio shot) or a screen shot from the film itself, and
used a symbolic image, (see blog post Sunday, 29 September 2013: ‘Pulp Fiction’ Poster
Review) I still feel that the two pieces go together. The use of a raven on the poster forebodes
the death that is to come in the film, thus the just by looking at the poster, the audience should
have worked out what is to come in the film - something which connects the two pieces. As
for the font, I have used a basic serif style, which affords a very clean, sharp look. This further
mirrors that of the film, due to the clean, professional nature of the hit man job. Similarly with
the OCD infected protagonist, the thin, lean font sits aligned on the page - like that of the
pristine-ness that OCD sufferers obsess over. One element that I feel may have let the synergy
down between the two is the folded line down the middle of the poster. It could be said that
this takes away some of the clean, perfect feel to the poster, as it suggests the poster has
been folded and possibly thrown away - something which an OCD sufferer is not known to do
- thus taking away some meaning from the poster itself.The purpose behind my poster was to
circulate the news about the short film coming out, and begin to stimulate the audience,
preparing them to watch the film when it came out. Personally, I feel like I successfully
achieved this goal. The ambiguity of the raven and the distressed look of the poster, is
engaging for an audience as I barely revealed anything about the film, but dropped the hints
that the film would include a foreboding death and drama. However, where I feel I was the
most successful, was in the way that I gave absolutely no clues away about the film, other
than the title and the actresses. However, I do feel that this was quite a bold move as it would
have had to have been perfect in its execution, otherwise I would have created a poster with
no synergy to the film, thus leading to no one watching or understanding the meaning and
narrative behind the film.

6. How effective is the combination of my main and ancillary texts?
Magazine Review
As well as the poster, I needed to create a magazine review that fitted in with
the film and the poster. However, as it would need to be published in a film
review magazine, it would need to maintain a professional quality and look.
After looking at multiple reviews (see blog post Tuesday, 8 October 2013:
Machete Kills, Empire Review Analysis - Double Page). As for my review, I
have followed the conventions. Placing my main image in the top left of the
spread, covering a large area within the page. I have incorporated a star
rating system and a general set of information about the film, all above the
main body of text. As with most reviews, it intact varies whether or not they
feature two images within the review. I however, have gone for one large
image and the poster. As for a stylistic, conventional feature, I have indented
the first paragraph by using a larger letter in a square. Bringing me onto the
color scheme of the review. Throughout the review, I have kept to a two color
scheme of red and black - something which is very common within reviews
(colors would follow the house style). These similarities would suggest that
my review is in fact made to a professional quality and is effective in selling
and promoting my film. Furthermore, my film and poster, I feel, work together
very well, thus making the film have a professional quality to it. I did not have
any issues with the designing of my review, it was when it came to the writing
that I felt I struggled the most. As I was writing it, I felt as though I was
repeating myself too often and it was not being successful in the job of
selling my film. As well as this, I wanted to make the writing short and
concise (like that of a film review), whilst being favourable of the film, naming
all of the good aspects. This one setback may have resulted in me not
achieving the full professional review quality.

7. What have I learnt from my audience feedback?

8. How have I used new media technologies in the construction stage?
Throughout the construction stage I used new media technologies in a variety of cases. Firstly, with the equipment that I used to make shoot my
film. Although using the same camera and tripod as that in year 12, this year I approached the task in a completely different manner. This year,
being a much more advanced and mature student, I was able to use the camera to its full ability. Using my own DSLR, I had full reign of the
camera. For some shots, I needed a macro lens, thus opting for the manual 50mm. This worked particularly well for the bedroom scene, as the
lighting was completely artificial and very low key. Being able to manually set the aperture, I was able to let more light into the camera, thus
meaning the shot would not be grainy and under/over exposed. As for the framing of my shots, I was a lot more adventurous as I went into filming
this year with more confidence when it came to the panning and tracking shots. Having some experience under my belt, afforded me the chance to
use pans effectively and smoothly, thus creating a more exciting and professional air to my final film.
As well as being able to use the camera, I also needed to broaden my skills within Adobe Premiere Pro. Having used Premiere for 6 years now, I
didn’t have much else to learn. However, this year, I used the stabiliser more than any other color correcting or level changing effect. On some of the
hand held shots, adding the stabiliser, at a very low percentage, afforded the ability to smooth out the shots and get rid of any slight movement -
without the background distorting and looking heavily artificial. Overall, this smoothed out my whole film and gave it a professional quality. One
problem that I did encounter this year, was a slight hum in the audio file - probably caused by the computer giving off feedback on the mic. I tried to
equalise the noise using Premiere, but had no luck. I placed the .mp3 into Adobe Audition, where I was able to focus on working with the audio file. I
used a 30 band equaliser to single out the hum and turn it down. After playing around, I managed to eliminate the hum. However, it made the actual
voice sound very deep and tinny. This then meant that I needed to change the other settings in the equaliser to bring the voice back up to a normal
pitch.
Within Adobe Photoshop, again, I had previous knowledge, therefore I did not encounter any problems within Photoshop. For both my poster and my
review, the only issues I encountered were to do with the layout. For both of them, I was forever changing around the layout, trying out new ideas to
see if they would look better and fit the page in a more beneficial way. This was specifically hard for my review, as I needed to arrange multiple
elements, such as the images and the body of text, making sure everything was aligned and the correct size.

9. How have I used new media technologies in the research & planning
stage?
As for my research, I used a few different media technologies. As for the bulk of my research, I used the internet and search engines to
aid me with the majority of my work. When looking into the codes and conventions, I found it very effective to be able to use a variety
of different sources, as it broadened my knowledge and my opinion as to what makes a short film, a short film. I feel as though this
broadened my horizon when making my own film, as it allowed me to be more free when approaching the planning of the film.
Furthermore, video social media sites allowed me to find an endless amount of existing short films, made by a wide group of people.
Personally, I used Vimeo more than Youtube, as I would consider Vimeo to be tailored more toward the short film and artistic genre of
film. Here, I found numerous shorts which both pushed the boundaries of both stylistic features and narratives. Both of these pushed
me to want to push the conventions within my own film. Furthermore, I used social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, to
distribute my surveys, thus allowing me to get results from a much broader audience, strengthening my primary data and results.
In my planning stages, I also used Adobe Premiere Pro to edit together my animatic. With Premiere begin a versatile programme,
working with images, not video, is just as easy. Being able to re-size and frame images afforded me the ability to create an animatic
that effectively conveyed the message I wanted my short film to have. As well as this, being able to easily document my storyboard
and note any changes that I made, was very easy by using the powerful web-blogging site Blogger. Here, I recorded my progress from
the very early ideas stage, all the way through the final animatic.

10. How have I used new media technologies in the evaluation stage?
Using new media technologies for my evaluation was a difficult one. Again, I used social media sites to publish my
survey and to publicise my film. This meant that a number of people would be able to fill out my survey and watch my
film. On sites such as Twitter and YouTube, I was able to use the popular ‘hashtag’ feature to get more work out into
the media world - thus affording me results from people all over the world. However, as my followers are mostly car
blogs and my friends, my results were very narrow and concise.
Another new technology I used, was google docs. This allowed me to create a very easy to follow, simple
questionnaire. I was able to directly share with people over instant messages - another way in which I was able to get
my survey out into the media world. Another fun feature was being able to compare and contrast my work with my
fellow students.