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I think our media product uses
a host of motifs belonging to crime thrillers – it shares similarities with
Taken. The primary characteristic which our film incorporates is the idea of the
protagonist, Bogdan in this case – and Bryan in Taken, being faced with some
form of quest. Bogdan is issued with a quest when Emmanuel, the antagonist in a
sense, took his bag and fled – leaving him to endure the questioning of Viktor
and consequently the order to hunt him down and retrieve the money. By
remaining strict to such conventions, essentially, in my opinion, you are more
likely to create a greater crime thriller – however there is also the possibility
of boring avid viewers. Furthermore, the film is dominated by the protagonist’s
point of view, and this is another characteristic of crime thrillers. It is
clear that the story is being told from Bogdan’s perspective and the troubles
which he is faced with in his journey to retrieve Viktor’s wealth – from
finding out the bag has gone missing, to actually feeling emotional upset. This
is also present in Taken as the story progresses through Bryan’s eyes and his
journey towards finding and safely taking back his daughter. Last but not
least, the film uses plenty suspenseful music which adds to the feeling of
mystery, and inquisitiveness – a common feature in many crime thrillers – as does
Taken in the form of high and low piano tones. This adds emphasis to the
actions of the characters, as well as the situation they are currently stuck
in.
How does your media
product represent particular social groups?
Our
media product represents particular social groups in a variety of ways; first
and foremost, Emmanuel – the black character – was dressed in a gang-like
attire, with a baggy hoodie, trainers etc. There is an appalling stereotype
present in modern day society that black men, in particular, dressed in shady
clothing or such, are related to some form of crime, or are willing to break
the law whenever the opportunity arises. This is completely false, and is
totally unfair because personally speaking, I know a few black people who
choose to dress in that manner but are nowhere near to being criminals. In
fact, they are possibly one of the nicest people I have met. That being said
however, since this is an ongoing stereotype, we chose to implement it in our
film because we felt it would be more accurate and create a realistic vibe
within the product. Furthermore, Viktor – the crime boss – appears to be of an
upper class, or someone who owns greater wealth, due to the fact that he was
smartly dressed in a shirt and tie. People in those sort of high-up, management
positions do commonly dress in a classier way in comparison to those who are at
ground-level and are doing most of the hard work. In our media product, we
wanted to highlight this difference being ‘normal’ and wealthy people. Finally,
Bogdan wore a simple jacket and jeans, which showed he doesn’t have much wealth
however he still doesn’t need to dress as if he is representing a gang or
clique. He dresses like a civilized individual, someone who is probably
unexpected to commit crime.
What kind of media institution might
distribute your media product and why?
I believe our film would best
be suited to local independent cinemas particularly in the area of East London.
I hold this view because I don’t necessarily think it would relate to those in
Spain or Malta for example, where mass broadcasting would be required, as well
as people in Scotland or Wales where national broadcasting would be needed. I
think this is due to the fact that the environment in the film, as well as the
type of characters, and the kind of clothing which they have chosen to wear was
not selected on the basis of reaching out to other countries or regions. If we
did choose to reach out to local, independent cinemas to distribute our film, I
think it would be much more beneficial because those who do go to the cinema
will have a much greater understanding and familiarity of the film – this will
mean that it’s more likely it will receive greater feedback and obviously
criticism which is calculated, and not just wild, uneducated opinions.
Furthermore, I don’t think our film would be suited for large distribution
companies due to the fact that in the media industry, we’d still be new on the
block and I think it would take many more films, and much more experience to be
gained before we can begin distributing our products to a much larger, and much
profitable market.
Who would be the audience for your media
product – how did you attract them?
I believe the audience for our
media product would be teenagers or those in their early twenties who live in
the East London area. As mentioned briefly before, I think they hold the
greatest similarities to our film. For instance, there are plenty African and
Eastern European individuals who reside in that particular area therefore they’re
going to be able to identify key factors and are going to be able to refer them
to their state, and the location in which they live. A factor which they will
be able to familiarise themselves with is obviously Emmanuel’s clothing, he
isn’t dressed in a tuxedo, or dinner suit, he probably looks just like them –
if not, then similar. Emmanuel’s character wears brands like Nike, Adidas etc.,
and personally speaking, I think I would be able to nod my head, and say it’s
something I’d like to see on a character – this thought makes the whole film
more personal, and more touching. Moreover, the court which we cleverly chose
to use in our film is possibly similar to those of others’ communities – there
was plenty of graffiti, and it was generally unkempt. I think the aforementioned
group of people would be our selected target audience because they’d genuinely
enjoy the film due to their age and youthfulness – the running scenes and
attempted use of Russian personalities would entice them and possibly even make
them laugh.
What have you learnt about technologies from
the process of constructing this product?
I have to admit, before I had
even touched a camera, I never fully knew how to use it at a decent standard.
Now that I have finished constructing my media product, I can boldly say that
I’m more than capable of handling a camera, and dealing with the specific
functions it entails. Furthermore, before I had even started on the preliminary
task, I never knew what Adobe Premiere Pro was, or what it could possibly do –
if I had to take an uneducated guess however, I’d probably think it was a piece
of software that only allow the user to view movies and such. But at this point
of time, I can say I’ve learnt a lot and obviously developed my skills when
rendering. At the preliminary point, I don’t think I was too good as it took me
some time before I had eventually finished rendering the piece, and even during
that period, I asked for simple tips and advice which would thus allow me to
put together a better clip. If I had to be given some film to render now, I’d
happily take the job on because I feel I’m that clued up about it that I
wouldn’t have any issues or complaints operating the software because I’ve
pretty much picked up everything, from cutting clips, to adding music.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what
do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Looking back at my preliminary
task, I feel I have learnt, as well as developed a huge amount of aspects; for
example, although at the start I was reasonably confident with setting up and
maintaining the camera, after I had endured many periods of filming my fellow
actors, I became much more familiar and much more skilled when handling the
camera, in terms of shots which I used. By that, I mean that I grew a greater
understanding of where a close-up was needed for example, and that meant I
could use one when the film was in dire need of it. Furthermore, although I
only appeared briefly in the preliminary task, I think my acting then has
improved since the current film; I learnt how to maintain my composure and to
at least try and carry out a decent Russian criminal – whereas before I kept
slipping up, either by laughing or forgetting what I was supposed to say. Last
but not least, this point is more of a group related one, however, I learned
what is required when working with others on a filming-like set, and what
co-ordination is required. I grew to understand that co-ordination is an
important factor in any film production because each individual would have
their own roles, but ultimately the whole group would have to come together in
order to put the film together.
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