Evaluation question 1

In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of media products?

Our media product goes against normal media conventions. During the opening of a normal post-apocalyptic film, we see the character the character going about his normal daily, post-apocalyptic life. However in our opening we see that the character is preparing for a journey of some sort, slightly different to the stereotypical opening of this genre. The audience of 16-25 year olds could even think it was a different genre completely. The opening of a conventional post-apocalyptic film would also ne action packed to show the protagonist as heroic and masculine. However in our film opening, the protagonist is packing his things, and then walking, also seen reflecting on pre apocalyptic life. An enemy/antagonist is also usually introduced in the opening.

A British teenager being shown in a British film is not a strange occurrence, so in a way our film does go along with ordinary media conventions. However considering the genre, our film does challenge conventions as teenagers are very rarely protagonists, especially on post-apocalyptic films.

The appearance of our character is stereotypical of a post-apocalyptic film, giving away very little about previous life. The clothes are heavy duty and suggest the character has a hard time, which is typical of the genre. This will send a message to an audience of people whose age is roughly the same as the character (16-25). This is because they will pick up that the character is roughly the same age as them, so should be wearing similar clothes. However due to what has happened he is not.

The soundtrack used in our film is stereotypical of a film with a depressing theme, not necessarily a post-apocalyptic film. However due to our character not being seen as a hugely powerful character, a more sombre song is actually appropriate as it suggests the protagonist is a victim of the apocalypse. In comparison to a post-apocalyptic film very different from ours (world war Z) we see an action packed opening scene with use of CGI as well as actual stunts like car crashes. Due to our limited budget, things like this were not possible, however we did take advantage of our surroundings as we were lucky enough to live in close proximity to a derelict house that we could use for free. The derelict house is stereotypical of a post-apocalyptic film. It shows how things that were once happy places can now be in ruins, which is a metaphor for the whole world at that time. Due to this, having a low budget was not an issue.

We used the technique of a voice over in our film. A voice over is a common convention in post-apocalyptic films, we took inspiration from films of the same genre. I am legend is an example of a film that uses a radio broadcast to give the audience large amounts of information on situation, the only difference being that the protagonist is listening to the information rather than providing it. This puts the audience on the same level as the character as they are receiving the information at the same as him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JU7tDawkr2Q

This is an example of an effective use of a voice over in a post-apocalyptic film

In regards to camera shots, we tried to use a selection of conventional shots, these included; extreme close ups, close ups, mid shots, tracking shots, long shots, extreme long shots, over the shoulder shots, low angle shots and panning shots.

This is an example of an over the shoulder shot. It allows the audience to almost see things through the eyes of the character and makes sympathising with him easier. Over the shoulder shots are used to show the audience what the character is focusing on.

Other shots…

I believe that overall our product was successful; this is because we developed and challenged conventions in such a way that the audience would easily know the genre and ambiance of the film, without it feeling as if it was too similar to everything else out there. I feel that the radio broadcast (voice over) was the aspect of the film that most obviously gave off the impression that you were watching a post-apocalyptic film. However I feel that the genre would still be obvious without the inclusion of this voice over, and for this reason I feel that our product was a success.