1. In what ways does
your media
product used,
develop or
challenge forms
and conventions
of real media
products?

2. What does this question mean to me?
Throughout the entire period that I have been studying media, we have always
looked at forms and conventions of real media products, and the reasons why
these are followed so religiously by media producers. However every now and
then, these forms and conventions are broken and this is when ideas are
pushed and developed further, creating an evolution of media. So this question
is asking me;
-in what ways and for what reasons did I follow the norms of real media
products?
-What advantages did I gain from sticking to these conventions?
-But also how and why did I break some of these real media conventions, in
what way did I develop my promotional packed beyond any existing package?

3. Conventions of movies and short films
Both movies and short films follow their own conventions. These are the
norms that are expected from a viewer which categorise a text into either
a movie or a short film or teaser trailer etcetera.
The following slides will consider what these conventions are and how
they are used in existing products.
They will also consider in which ways my short film has strayed away from
or developed these conventions seen in the existing products.

4. Conventional Narrative in film
Todarovs theorem – One theory of narrative I by Tadarov. This is probably the
most commonly followed theorem, especially within short films. The theory
follows the idea that a narrative begins at an equilibrium. This is the stage of
‘social norm’ where characters are going about their every day business. The
next stage of the theory is when we see a disruption to the narrative. This is
when a situation occurs which is out of the every day social norm, creating a
problem for the characters. This then leads to the characters setting out to solve
this issue and put things ‘back to normal’. This part of the narrative completes
the majority of the script and it is within this section that we see the climax of
the movie, the part where the story is in full swing. After this stage, Todarov
states that the problem is eventually solved, finally returning us back to an
equilibrium as seen at the begging of the story.

5. One example of how Todarovs theorem is used -
2008 movie ‘Taken’.
1. Equalibrium – Audience see a normal 2. Disruption – daughter is kidnapped
father/daughter relationship and the social norm is taken away
3. Climax – Father sets out to find 4. Return to equilibrium - father finds and
daughter and murder her kidnappers, rescues his daughter, and life returns to
hitting the climax of the movie normal, restoring an equilibrium

6. How does my narrative compare to the
conventional narrative?
As in Todarovs theorem, the fluent in love narrative does begin at an equilibrium. It follows my
character as he takes a walk in his natural environment and arriving at a country pub. The reason
i chose to use this stage of the narrative is because I believe that it creates a sense of realism. It
gives the audience a chance to build rapore with the characters and understand their
environment, rather than jumping straight into this fantasy world and throwing my audience into
the deep end before they can even understand my characters.
The next stage of my narrative, strayed away slightly from the conventional narrative.
My character finds himself sat in the pub next to a female whom he is clearly attracted to,
however he cannot build the courage to approach her. This indeed as stated in the theorem is a
problem, how ever it is not so clearly obvious that it is a problem, and certainly not one that can
be solved.
In the next stage of my narrative, my character try’s to build himself the courage to
talk to the female however the narrative totally breaks away from Todarovs theorem when the
climax approaches. My character finally speaks to the girl, however she is French and cannot
understand him, proving the previous 5 minutes of the movie and of my characters life to have
been a total waste of time. If my plot was to have followed the conventional narrative structure,
then my character would have spoke to the girl, she would have replied and they would have fell
in love and returned to a happy norm. However by using this ending I believe my narrative
encounters many more emotions and tribulations than if it would have followed the norm.

7. Conventional camera shot sizes

8. Examples of how my shot sizes have conformed to
those of the previous slide
Extra long shot - This is my establishing shot. I used an
extra long shot in order to establish the scenery whilst
including my actor. The use of this shot adds depth to
the frame and prepares the audience for what is to come
in the forthcoming shots.
Long shot – This shot enables my audience to see a full
head to toe image of my character. I rarely used the long
shot within my film as I believe it was only needed a few
times to establish the characters however more
intriguing shots could be used from then on.
Medium long shot – used very similarly to the long shot,
this shot enabled me to move swiftly between the long
and medium shots. Also moving in to a medium long
shot brings the audiences focus more towards the action
rather than the surrounding setting.

9. Medium shot – Provides an image of the upper
torso and head. This shows full facial expression
whilst also including body language. I often used
this shot as a neutral base which I would regularly
return to in between more intricate shots i.e.. Close
ups.
Close up – A close up image of one particular aspect,
usually a full head image. This shot is regularly used
within my film, often as reaction shots to provide the
audience with a full understanding of each
characters emotion throughout.
Extreme close up – This shot focuses in on something
particular, usually a facial feature. I used this shot a
few times in my film in order focus on eye movement
or smirks for example, it can also help to add humour
to the narrative.

10. Examples of unconventional/innovative camera
shots within my short film
Mirror shot – Here I created a shot that shown
my actors real life silhouette from behind
whilst also showing his face from within the
mirror. We had to try a few different toilets to
receive the correct lighting for the shot, then
we took a low angle in order to include the
camera in the mirrors reflection.
Crisp packet shot – At the point of my character
reaching into the crisp packet, i wanted my
audience to take the prospective of the crisps
within the packet. I did this by opening up the
packet from both ends and placing the lens of the
camera in he one end. This was an extremely
difficult shot to master as movement was a huge
problem when the hand entered the packet
however we was determined to get the shot as the
packet reflected well from the light.

11. Beer shot – Whilst filming I thought it would be
interesting to see if we could create an image of
the bubbles rising in the beer. We used an extreme
close up and created a successful shot. The reason
i like this shot is the timing in which it was used. It
stands as a metaphor for the rising tension and
really adds to the awkwardness of the situation in
a creative way.
Across the bar – We took this shot by placing the
camera at a neutral level with the bar at one
end, I then directed the actor to sit within shot
at the other end of the bar. This enabled me to
focus the lens on the immediate foreground
across the bar, whilst blurring the background of
the actor.

12. Over the shoulder – To create this shot i placed
the camera behind my lead actress in order to
capture both my actor and actress in the shot,
This enabled the audience to see both
characters faces and really captured my lead
actors emotion as he glanced at the actress.
Floor level – In order to add another dynamic to
the style of filming we wanted to play with the
levels and this shot is directly from the ground.
It follows the actors foot movement as he
surpasses the camera and exits the toilets,
enabling the audience to feel part of the scene
and close and intimate with the narrative and
the actors movement.

13. Close ups on particular objects – Throughout the
film we included close ups of particular objects. This
added an aspect of art to the film, creating
interesting images. It also added to the narrative as
it bought attention to particular objects and
enhanced the suspense. It also was used so that the
camera could take the characters prospective as
they looked around the room in nervousness and
awkwardness.
One sided shot – I included a few of these shots
which capture a medium shot of the
actor/actress baring towards one side of the
shot. This is used so that the audience is
refreshed from the harsher shots that are used
and can relax whilst the narrative is slowed
down.

14. Two shot – The two shot was the most commonly
used shot within my short film. Although it is simple,
we had to get the perfect shot, as this is where the
narrative is built. From this shot we needed to
include both characters full facial expression whilst
been able to see complete body language. The fact
that we lingered on most of the two shots really
helped to develop the characters thoughts and
enhanced the narrative.
Canted angle – gave a full front shot of the pub
and provided added interest with the slight cant
making the pub look quirky and out of the norm
compared to the shots used in the previous
setting.
Feet shot – I used matching close ups of both
the actors’ and actress’ feet, this captured them
both tapping their feet, creating a humorous
moment for the audience to connect with.

15. Conventional sound within professional film
Within professional feature films, budgets are higher and better equipment is
available. Boom mic’s and clothing mic’s are used and sound can be easily
attainable to a higher quality from any distance in the frame.
Conventional sound in low budget film
Diagetic sound – within low budget short films, diagetic sound more than often
comes straight from the microphone built in to the camera. However this usually
provides quite sound, and picks up heavy background disruption and distortion.
This then creates an issue whilst actually filming, it means that settings often have
to be changed to quieter surroundings and actors have to stand closer to the
camera than originally planned.
Non-diagetic sound – Non diagetic sound is less of an issue within low budget
short films, however it is rarely used. When conducting research I found that many
producers of short films use non diagetic sound for sound effects and a music
track overlaid.

16. How does the sound in my short film compare to
conventional sound?
We began by recording the digetic sound directly from the in-build microphone in the
camera, conventional of low budget short films. However the sound was quite and
disrupted. For this reason we decided to keep dialouge to a minimum, by doing this we
could over ride the sound.
Using logic pro 9, we created an entire overlay of artificial sound. This created a crisp sound
throughout. Full of sound effects and natural background noise it created a professional
tone, without the high budget equipment such as boom mic’s. We also managed to include
dialouge. We did this by recording it straight from the built in microphone in the camera
and then enhancing it dramatically on logic pro 9 and then mixing it in to the overlay of
artificial sound. Music was also used in the film, we used diagetic sound as though the
music was coming straight from the juke box, the choice of music, maintained the mature
style of filming whilst making the narrative quirky and attainable for a young and old
audience. Reading on copy right laws, we found that we were able to include a theme song
at the end of the film as the film is for student, internal purposes only and not to be sold to
the public.
Watching and listening back on the film, i believe i made the best decision available in
creating the sound for the film. The parts in particularly enjoy are the precise sound of
footsteps as the actor walks through the country park and also the change in the sound
when the music muffles as he enters the bathroom to enhance the verisimilitude.