Critical Evaluation

1) In what ways does the media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

I believe we observed the conventions of continuity because our film, (The Last Line), flows quite smoothly due to editing, apart from one jump cut and canted angle which are deliberately there. The reason being to look as though it is from a photographers point of view as they have dropped the camera onto the floor, (jagged and bumpy etc).

We stuck to the 180° rule, throughout our film, (e.g. in the interview scene), however broke the conventions of this rule during the first press scene; in order to see the main character - Connor. The first angle was from the left hand side and then we switched to the right hand side to see Connor get out of the car as he is the main character and it was important to get his point of view while having the voiceover over it. We also observed the conventions of continuity, by using a match on action, where Lucy snatches the bottle out of Connors hand. We used a range of shots such as close up, long shot, high/low angle and used different ones to create effect, (e.g. high angle, looking down on him when he is depressed) as this follows the language of film and editing.

We have edited our film, by generally using cuts, however added fades in and out to show passing of time. We used flashes throughout out film for effect and to look like camera flashes, which reminds the audience of the storyline, (celebrities, paparazzi etc). This is a flash used in our film.
“The Last Line” is in chronological order which is controlled by editing as it was edited together continuously. We also adjusted the length of the shots to add rhythm to our film and to make it flow better.

The genre for our short film is drama. I believe that we reflected the conventions as we added music which created a dramatic feel and also sympathy at the part where we wanted the audience to feel sorry for him. We added a song that was quite sad over the last part of the film, (I Am Not Left Handed- Boats but not the Ocean), that fitted very well with the context of the film and we also added a more upbeat song to the titles, as that was a more positive time in his life and career. The words of this song also added drama, as it had the lyrics “I can feel the changes coming...”, which may give the audience a hint of the storyline. Our film fulfils the nature of the genre because drama’s show human beings at their best, worst and everything in-between, which our film does. Drama’s can also include drug addiction, corruption of power, alcoholism and violence towards women, which I think our film contains.

Following the storyline of our film, we show Connor as a celebrity by showing a photo-shoot, interview and paparazzi following him, as well as photos at the end of the film, and the sound of a camera. We also added a freeze frame during when Connor is buying the drugs. This was to relate to our storyline and make it look like he has been caught out, or pictured, during when he is at an all time low in his life. We also shot this at high angle looking down at him to show him at a low point.

Throughout our film there are some moments where the audience will hint reference to another film; firstly in the titles. During the titles (photo shoot), we added a freeze frame, which began with a flash (to give the idea it was a camera), then added the names of the actors.

This idea was taken from the film “snatch”, as the titles in this film are similar and we liked the idea.

We also took ideas from the TV programme ‘Dirt’, for our press scenes as in ‘Dirt’, there is a scene where paparazzi are following celebrities and being pushy and we liked this idea and incorporated it into our film. Our film is a biographical film as it dramatizes the life of one person, and comprehensively tells a person’s life story. There are many other biographical films which ours may hint at a reference to, such as ‘The Fighter’, ‘Ali’ and ‘Erin Brokovich’, however we have not deliberately taken any ideas from these films.

Through our short film, the kind of audience pleasure we are trying to achieve at first is personal identity. This is because we want to show the main character Connor, as a successful actor and a role model. We also want to make the audience feel sorry for him towards the end of the film and I am confident we achieved this as we added dramatic music and voiceovers explaining his situation. Our short film can also give the audience intensity, (as there are highs and lows of emotion throughout the film), and transparency (as the voiceovers give the audience more of an insight into his life). Laura Mulveys scopophilia approach relates to our film also, as the audience will be watching Connor and looking into his life without him being able to see them. Our film may also be used simply for entertainment, relaxation or just to fill time - relating to Richard Dyers theory.