1. Evaluation Question #1 Winnie Sunday Dacosta In what way
does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
2. Research We researched many different media products both
within our chosen genre of crime/mystery and around it We looked at
films, TV shows and even music videos for inspiration. We were able
to identify different techniques used within the products that we
chose to imitate.
3. The first of these would be our opening shot which is a slow
zoom into our location. This shot is inspired by the opening shot
in the James Bond: Quantum of Solace film. We chose to use this
shot because of the effect it had on us as we watched it in the
film. It served as a way to draw the audience from outside of the
action, right into the middle of it in a non-overwhelming way.
4. We altered this shot to tailor our needs by changing it from
an extremely high angled shot zooming in at a fast pace over the
ocean to a more suitable zoom into the front window of the house we
chose as our location. We did this partly because we did not have
the necessary equipment to replicate such a high angle and also to
adapt the shot to our chosen location; a suburban street.
5. Another film we got some inspiration from was the Sherlock
Holmes (2009) film. This film is very similar to ours in genre as
they both have a mystery/detective element. In the opening of this
film the main character, Sherlock Holmes, is seen running
throughout the streets in an apparent chase. The aspect of this
that we extracted was the fact that throughout this sequence, the
shots and camera angles did not allow his face to be seen until the
end of the opening sequence.
6. We developed this a little bit further by showing extreme
close-ups of our actors eyes and mouth before actually revealing
his full face. This was to highlight the air of mystery around the
character and the murder case before him.
7. Another idea we had was to use a voice-over during our film
opening. We were inspired by the film opening Hot Fuzz which also
used a voice over as a way to fill the audience in on the main
characters past and skillset. Police Constable Nicholas Angel: born
and schooled in London, graduated Canterbury University in 1993
with a double first in Politics and Sociology. Attended Hendon
College of Police Training. Displayed great aptitude in field
exercises, notably Urban Pacification and Riot Control.
8. It was a very effective way to bring us all up to speed in a
short space of time; however it was a large amount of information
to take in all at once. Of course, as the audience, we werent
expected to remember every little detail mentioned but instead it
served to show exactly how much the main character had
accomplished. We stripped the idea down to its basic form and
decided to have our voiceover be the audible thoughts of the main
character, Mack Mason as he analyses the scene before him whilst
giving the audience an insight into his personality. Strangled to
death? No, no throat marks. Hit with a blunt object?
Perhaps...
9. We also took inspiration from a scene in the Sherlock Holmes
movie where Holmes is sitting on a chair alone with his thoughts.
The voices of several different people saying different things are
heard played over each other and merging together. Instead of
different people we decided to make the voices his own thought
processes. Just like in the film, we hope this technique will
create tension and give the audience an insight into how he
thinks
10. We used a range of different products and genres to get
inspiration and point us in the right direction. Most of the
techniques had to be altered and tailored to fit our idea, genre
and abilities. It helped us use pre-existing techniques that have
already proven to be effective to make our products equally as
effective.
