Only son – media evaluation

ONLY SON – MEDIA EVALUATION

Travis Kerslake

In what ways does your media product use,

develop or challenge forms and conventions of

real media products?

While brainstorming ideas for our media product, we both agreed that it would be good to include ideas from existing media products, for example, we took the idea of sudden and loud sounds from the movie series Insidious, which includes these in

their movie to really create tension within. We also used inspiration from other movies such as Paranormal Activity, a movie series which commonly include time lapse in their

movies, which gives the audience an understanding of time. We included both of

these techniques within our product to create tension.

How does your media product represent

particular social groups?

Our media product represents both teenagers and parents. I personally believe that our product represents teenagers more, as

sometimes when you are left alone you can think of the worst and especially if you are a

very insecure character like Woody is within our opening. I also believe that our product could

represent parents, as many parents are nervous to leave their children alone for the first time, as they can also think of the worst and there

are numerous stories each year where children are kidnapped. Some parents may also worry

about their children throwing a party while they are away, but this is not a worry in our product.

What kind of media institution might

distribute your media product and why?

Common thriller conventions are also present within our product, such as

home invasion and being watched, for this reason I believe that our product

could be distributed by both art house distributors but also highly rated distributors, such as Paramount

Pictures. I also think the idea of a child left venerable in a big house alone

would be very popular with the common thriller watching.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

As I had mentioned before, I believe our media product could be relatable

to both teenagers who may suffer from insecurity and parents who may

be very protective or worry about their children a lot. I think our product would be able to be viewed by people

aged 15-25, as there are some features within our product that may

frighten children of a younger age. On the other hand I think our opening

may not be as developed to attract an older audience.

How did you attract/address your

audience?

Once again, I believe our product may attract teenagers who feel very insecure or on edge when they are left alone or just in general. I

also believe our opening could attract just the general thriller or horror movie watcher, or just

any general movie goer. We made sure we could include as many thriller conventions as possible while filming our thriller opening, but we also knew we wanted to include some of our own ideas which we believed would help

create the most tense atmosphere. Our movie also includes camera angles and different

types of shots that may attract someone who is interested in film and media.

What have you learnt about technologies from

the process of constructing this

product?

I had very little experience in editing and using camera equipment, but I was helped by the filming of both the

preliminary task and our original opening of Amelie. From filming or thriller opening, I have learnt how to properly set up both a camera and tripod, how to film efficiently and make sure you don’t end up having to rush or don’t finish every scene. I have also learnt of to properly use editing equipment such as Final Cut Pro, which I really enjoyed learning how to use and now believe I will be

able to edit efficiently without many errors in the future. Along with learning how to edit and use camera

equipment appropriately, I have discovered that I really enjoy both the filming and editing aspect of creating a

project.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it

to the full product?

The main thing I learnt from filming and editing the preliminary task was that you need to be able to set

aside a substantial amount of time which you can spend just on the filming, to ensure you don’t have

to rush and not capture all the angles and shots that may be required. I also learnt how to edit

effectively, but not as well as I learnt while I was editing the thriller. Along with the preliminary task, I

really think that the filming and editing of our opening remake really gave me an understanding of just how organised you have to be to complete

the editing and filming on time and efficiently.