Codes and Conventions of a Romance genre

All romance films follow the same structure, they start off with the boy loses girl scenario and then he wins her back but through this they face obstacles are shown to be the perfect couple-this mainly appeals to the female audience. The male protagonist is the stereotypical man who turns out to be the hero and, of course, gets the girl of his dreams. The story uses emotional techniques to link to the audiences emotions by including past relationships and the typical problems couples have to deal with-for example; disapproving parents or ex's. Both of these create problems for both the male and female protagonist to overcome so they can be together and end with a happy ending.

Codes and Conventions of an action genre

All action films follow the typical conventions by including fast paced dramatic music to help emphasise the tense moments to create suspense and to match the action. There is usually a clear binary opposition between the main protagonist and the main antagonist. They all seem to follow the same structure with the hero saving the day but before this he must be involved in an action scene which could be a chase scene, fight scene or a shoot out. Either way the hero gets to a final confrontation with the main antagonist and eventually saves the day but before has to create some epic explosions.

Codes and Conventions of a Horror genre

Horror Sub Genres

Ø  The Monster scare

Ø  Psychological

Ø  Slasher

Split into sub genres-often sub genres

Primary target audience male 16-24

15 or 18 certificate

Extensive use of narrative enigmas

Slow pace of editing, builds tension, long takes.  

Codes and conventions

     ·         Three act narrative

·         Predictable narrative content (follows format)

·         Clear binary opposition’s good v evil.

·         Use of low key lighting, Use of CGI, FX

·         Dominant representation of gender: male villain, female victim

·         Extensive use of close up, point of view shots, low angle shots.

·         Young/teenage characters

Target Audience: Usually male aged 16-24, usually male because men can interact with the characters where as the women are seen as being weak. The blood and gore doesn't appeal to women as they are squeamish.

Link to my AS Level Blog

http://corynelsong321.blogspot.co.uk/

Research and planning 3

•         What real media and audiences did you look at?

We aimed our film at teenagers of both sexes aged 15+

•         How did they inform your thinking about your media production?

We knew our audience would enjoy a high intense film with the typical conventions of an action film. We adjusted the script to suit the audience because at first it was too simple and our audience would have been unsatisfied.

•         How did you record all that research?

We asked members of our audience to fill out a questionnaire to help aid us with our film ideas.

•         What primary research was undertaken?

Questionnaires

•         What secondary research was undertaken?

We watched over films similar to ours ( James Bond) and then did research on the film to see the typical features.

•         How did it inform the production?

We used our primary and secondary information to decide on certain aspects of our film such as the chase scene. We could not decide how to start our film but our research helped us to decide to start with a chase scene.

•         What is the effectiveness of these kinds of research?

Your audience get a choice of what they would like to happen in the film.

•         How effectively were storyboards/shot lists/script followed?

Very effectivly. We used our storyboard and script, that we had planned out before, to its full effect and included almost very scene we had planned to. We did miss out some scenes due to the weather.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (Using conventions from real media texts) 5

•         In what ways have your products challenged or played with conventions?
 

Our film followed the typical conventions of an action film.


•         Is your work generic or experimental, or both?

Our work was generic as we followed the typical conventions of an action film. We did this by using high/low angle shots and shot reverse shot in the film. We also used a tracking shot to follow the chase following the traditional conventions.


•         Have you developed a style?

Yes. Our film mixed a dark sinister theme with the typical conventions of an action film.


•         Have you been influenced by the work of specific directors etc?
Yes we were influenced by Marc Forster,Sam Mendes, who was the director of the James Bond film Skyfall.

What have you learned from your audience feedback? (Post-production) 4

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

•         What editing decisions were made? How did they inform the production?

We decided to use the tools available on adobe premier elements 10 to give each scene a clean cut as it moves onto the next one. We also used the slow-motion tool to end our film and end the film just as the titles appear.

•         What particular editing tools were used and to what effect?

Slow motion and the cutting tools on adobe premier elements 10.

•         How did the post-production process enhance the overall production?

We used our results from the post-production process to enhance the overall production by using our results to make the film perfect for our audience.

How did you use media forms to come up with something new and original? (Creativity) 2

     Creativity

How did you use media forms to come up with something new and original?

•         Where did ideas come from?

 Connor and I developed our ideas by watching many James Bond films and other action films that matched our genre and then aimed to create a similar film to them.

•         How did you work collaboratively to share ideas?

 We watched m,any action films that were similar to our film which helped us to develop our ideas.

•         How did you change things?

 

We changed parts of our planning when it came to organising the schedule and cast. We had to decide on a location and actors for the film. This was difficult as the actors were busy most of the time.

 

•         How did you use tools like Adobe Premier Elements etc to achieve something imaginative?

 

We used cutting tools and slow motion tools to make the experience more enjoyable for our audience.

 

•         What stylistic techniques were used to appeal to the audience?

 

We used fast paced editing and typical conventions of an action film from the action genre to appeal to our target audience.

 

 

 

•         How were these outcomes achieved in terms of page layout and camera shot choices (codes and conventions)?

 

We followed the typical conventions of an action film by using fast paced editing and high angle/low angle shots. We also used over the shoulder shots and tracking shots to make the audience feel as if they were there.

 

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? (Digital Technology) 1

 

What software was used?

• Adobe Premier Elements

• Google Chrome

• Microsoft Word

 

 

 

 

What equipment was used?

 

 

 

• Camera

• Tripod

• Computer

 

 

 

 

 What were the technical pros and cons of the software and hardware?

 

 

 

 

+ Easy to use

 

 

 

 

+ Improves the quality of the work

 

 

 

 

- May have disruptions causing work to disappear

 

 

 

 

In what ways was technology used to create the production?

 

 

 

 

The technology was used to produce the film through the use of Adobe Elements 10.

We used Adobe to develop our film to its full potential by using the editing tools and slow motion tools to improve the film for our viewers. We used the speed up tool effect on Connor and James's eyes to give the audience a dynamic POV effect of both characters using this tool. The last main thing I learnt in regards of technology is the power of camera angles, and how important it is to look into choosing the correct setting for shooting because of the instant representation a setting can give off to the audience sub consciously and we also tried to edit a title, but we couldn't quite find the right software to use for our titles.

 

 

 

 

In what ways did the technology constrain or enable the production to be developed?

 

The technology available to me enabled me to improve my film by adjusting parts such as the lighting and the speed. It also allowed me to have a clean cut for each scene.