MEDIA STUDIES AS COURSEWORK

Maria Carter

"THIS LOVE"


In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The media convention our media group used was romantic comedy. Romantic comedy conventions of real media projects are typically light hearted, humorous, dramatic stories, centred on the “perfect couple”. The majority of romantic comedies tell a story about two people that start of either not knowing each other or disliking each other but by the end of the film have fallen in love with each other.
Our opening sequence has typical romantic comedy conventions; and these are shown throughout the sequence with the use of cinematography, mise-en-scene and sound. Nearly all of the scenes used for filming were set in romantic places; the London Eye, Hyde Park, London Bridge and places that held some sort of importance to both of our main characters, each set showing our "perfect couple". During the whole of the opening sequence, each shot used are long shots, showing the different locations that the couple have been to, making sure that each shot shows the couple together, portraying that it is the start of a romantic film. Another way in which our media project is shown as a romantic comedy is the use of the non-diegetic voice over. This voice over develops the original conventions of romantic comedies, involving the audience with what is occuring in the film. Narrated by the main character it tells the romantic story of him and his girlfriend but also integrates many comical stories about his girlfriend to fulfill the comedy genre.

However, although it makes use of these romantic conventions, it also challenges them. Most romantic films begin with the main characters not knowing each other, our couple however, start the film knowing each other, seeing each other and already being in love with each other, which then turns for the worst two minutes in, with the "perfect couple" breaking up and no longer being a "perfect couple" but two regular people that clearly weren't made for each other. It makes use of classic romantic conventions yet twists them to make use of the comedy conventions.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?
The whole of the opening sequence is based on the one character, Nathan. Although both boy and girl are represented in each clip, the sequence is based on the story of the boy. This boy is shown as from a working class family; he wears normal high street clothes, owns a mobile and takes his girlfriend on dates around the City of London. However the couple the audience see also go against the regular conventions of social groups. In many films, black and male characters are shown as rebellious, going against the law, being the heart breakers, constantly being in the wrong with the women and being the total opposite of white and female characters. In our clip however we show Nathan as the total opposite; he talks about how much he loves his girlfriend and sees through all of her faults, whereas she, the white female is the one in the wrong, breaking her boyfriends heart.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Our media project would be distributed by the Film Institution. As our genre and storyline is one that would appeal to many different audiences, it would be advertised and shown by mainstream cinemas to universal audiences.

Who would be the audience for your media product?
Our media project is aimed at both male and female audiences. Nowadays, most romantic comedies appeal to both men and women; the romance for the women and the comedy for the men. As our project is about a younger couple, it should also appeal to viewers of a younger age as they can relate to the problems that the main character goes through with his girlfriend.

How did you attract/address your audience?
The methods we used throughout our media project to attract our audience was by the use of; the characters we chose, the mise-en-scene we used, the choice of song and the genre of the film.
As our product is aimed at a teenage audience, we decided to use the story of a teenage couple as the main storyline. We did this so that the audience would be able to relate to what the main character is going through and be able to understand the feelings he has for his girlfriend. This main character also addresses the audience and involves them in what he's going through by talking to them and telling them step by step what he's feeling for his girlfriend by means of the voice over. The mise-en-scene also added to the attraction for a teenage audience. The wardrobe the main characters wore were ordinary high street clothes that ordinary teenagers would wear, the different scenes used were locations in London that many teenagers would find familiar. The final addition to make our media project seem attractive to teenagers is the choice of song. When the credits begin on our product, the song played is "This Love" by the band Maroon 5, this song is an easily recognisable song to people of all ages, especially teenagers.
Audience feedback:-
After watching our opening sequence to our romantic comedy, the audience said that it was a clearly recognisable opening sequence, it introduced the characters well and clearly introduced the situation of the couples relationship by use of the voice over.
The storyline used also made it obvious to the audiece that the genre of the film was romance and the clip also showed comical moments from the narrator.
From watching our project the viewers thought that it would have been aimed at a teenage audience as it is based upon the story of a teenage love.
The response the audience gave to if they think our product would appeal to the target audience was a positive one. Firstly, they said that a teenage audience would be able to relate to the characters situation, aswell as being able to relate to the storyline itself. Secondly, the settings we chose to use are easily recognisable as they are various locations seen in the City of London.
For the duration of the film, the audience said that the scenes were established well and through the use of mise-en-scene, they could establish that the duration of the opening sequence was set over a period of time from differences in location, weather, wardrobe and props. For the audience this gave the effect that there was a build up of relationship, helping them understand what the main character was feeling. To help with the understanding of the storyline, the editing of the non-diegetic voice over explained the content of the sequence to the audience to help them understand what the couples situation was.
However, when the audience had finished watching our product, they commented on how the voice over worked really well, however it could have been improved by playing a song quietly throughout the voice over as they thought it was too plain by itself.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
During the process of creating our media project, the different technologies we used were; Sony video camera and tripod for the filming, iMacs to put the footage on, iMovie to edit the footage we shot and ( ) to do the technique of the split screen. All of the equipment we used are pieces of modern technology and were new to me so I learnt how to use each of them whilst constructing and editing our footage. By using these technologies I have learnt how to set up a camera for filming and shoot a range of different shots, save footage onto a computer, open up our project and then edit. During our editing stages I learnt how to; shorten and cut unwanted footage, out them in order of filming, add in different transitions to the project to create different effects, add a non-diegetic voice over to our sequence, I learnt how to add a variety of effects to the credits, showing the film title and the names of the characters. For me, it was interesting to see the different stages of the film editing and learning how to add all of the different transitions and see the different effects they created.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
During the development of our full project, i have learnt how important planning is. The storyline used was filmed from the plans we made and the storyboards we drew. I have also learnt that throughout each filming stage, it is important to make use of framing and the tripod, especially when filming a tracking shot.
However, the most important development I leant was the choice of mise-en-scene. Each different setting and all different props used create various feelings within the audience, and every one of the scenes chosen and props used have to give the impression of romance and comedy to the audience.