Critical Evaluation 1

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

Our media product uses and to an extent develops forms and conventions of real media products, however, it does not challenge them. We followed the language of film and editing through the use of classical editing (invisible editing), abiding by the 180° rule, match and action and shot-reverse-shot. Continuity editing is a style of editing whereby the audience does not recognise the editing process. This allows the shots and narrative to create an immersive experience for the audience. Below I will gives examples of where we have used continuity within our film.


180° rule:
The 180° is an essential continuity techniqueused in the construction of films. This form of editing acts as an imaginary line (axis) between characters and objects in order to keep continuity. The axis cannot be crossed as this would disrupt the continuity of the film and cause confusion for the audience thus reducing their immersive experience within the film.

An example of the 180° rule.

An example of us observing continuity through the 180° rule.

Shot-reverse-shot:
Shot-reverse-shot is an editing pattern that cuts to the view in the opposite direction. It is used to establish a relationship between characters and the easiest way to shoot dialogue. The shot-reverse-shot is usually a medium - close up and it allows the audience to gage the thoughts and feelings of the characters. This enhances the verisimilitude of a film as it immerses the audience within the film as you are forced to vicariously experience every thought and feeling what the character is experiencing.

Shot-reverse-shot in our fim.

Shot-reverse-shot used in 'No Country for Old Men'

This link demonstrates the Coen brothers' effective use of shot-reverse-shot

Match and action:

Is a form of editing in which a shot ‘matches the action’ in the previous shot. This enhances the verisimilitude of a film. In order to perfect this technique it is important to ensure the background and foreground of the scene and setting is completely unaltered, the failure to do this would result in a break in continuity. In our film the three photos below were all filmed on different weeks, however, we took photos of the room so we could ensure continuity would not be broken. Every week we had to re write the characters' names on the whiteboard. Match on Action is an editing convention of real media products used frequently within almost all films along with a sound bridge to make the scene more realistic and allow it to flow to the audience with greater clarity. 

Karen releasing her name has a loveheart next to it.

This shot tells the audience why Karen was looking unimpressed.

Her action after seeing the loveheart next to her name.

However, as well as maintaining continuity for large parts of our film we have also used visible editing techniques that disrupt the continuity of our film. We have done this as it is another method to convey the genre of our film, black comedy. The visible editing techniques that we have used are a graphic match, crossfades, the highlighting of text and the camera technique of zooming.

Graphic match:
A graphic match is when one shot cuts to another that is an object that is a very similar shape in the same place as the object within the previous scene. An example could be a shot of a traffic light on yellow that cuts to a bright sun. Within our film the graphic match is Ross on the end of his bed having just woke up and then it cuts to him at the train station waiting its arrival. The length of shot for graphic matches can vary but wit ours being a medium close up we are able to convey Ross' negative feelings.

This is an iconic graphic match from Hitchcock's 'Psycho'

The graphic match in our film.

Hightlighting:

The highlighting of text is a recent phenomenon within editing in media productions. It has developed as phones have become technologically converged and our use of them has increased. Highlighting certain sentences or words from a text allows the audience to focus on important elements of it. Alternatively, the text sometimes appears on the screen rather than the phone. As in the case of the television shows 'Sherlock' and 'House of Cards'. This keeps the audience entertained as they feel privy to the character's life.

The highlighting of a sentence, which is a key part of our storyline, within our film.

Texting within 'House of Cards'.

Texting within 'Sherlock'.

Zoom:

We used the camera technique of zooming. Within our film this emphasised the faces and contrast between Hooper and Ross. Previous to the zoom Ross had just found out that his now ex girlfriend is having an affair with his boss, Hooper. As the camera zooms and alternates in shot-reverse-shot between Ross and Hooper the audience feels increasingly trapped and forced to experience the tension between the characters. However, the tension is broken by the widely used 'ironside' siren that adds a comedic edge. Here is a link to the ironside music

The zoom within our film.

Crossfade:

A crossfade is a form of visible transition where one shot fades out at the same rate as the next shot fades in. The speed of crossfades influences the drama. We used crossfades to slow down a monologue from Ross, elongating the scene further dramatised his turmoil. If you pause a crossfade halfway through transition it will show both shots mixed together, as illustrated below. 

A crossfade from our film.

The crossfade in a film that inspired our film, 'Fargo'.

Genre conventions:
In black comedies topics and events that are usually regarded as taboo are treated in an unusually humorous or satirical manner while retaining their seriousness; the intent of black comedy, therefore, is often for the audience to experience both laughter and discomfort, sometimes simultaneously. Our film is classified as a black comedy. This is because our film contains conventions from the paradigm of the black comedy genre. 

The sub genre of black comedy offers those involved in the process of making a film a lot of freedom with regard to the mise-en-scene. Black comedies are instead primarily focused on themes. Popular themes of the genre include violence (murder, abuse, domestic violence, rape, torture, war, genocide, terrorism, corruption), discrimination (chauvinism, racism, sexism, homophobia), disease (anxiety, depression, suicide, nightmares, drug abuse, mutilation, disability, terminal illness, insanity), sexuality (sodomy, homosexuality, incest, infidelity, fornication) and religion. Our film contains several of these themes, including: chauvinism, sexism, depression, suicide and infidelity. We have adhered closely to the conventions of black comedy throughout our film.

Examples of Hooper being chauvinistic towards Karen.

Infidelity.

Suicide

 Black comedy is a niche genre and throughout the film we acknowledge our fim's influences. For example, there is an intertextual moment within the film that is a deliberate pastiche towards the cult black comedy 'Fargo'. A catchphrase from the film is 'yeah, you betcha' in a distinctive Minnesota accent, this is used by one of our characters Simon (Owen Griffiths) at the beginning of our film. We have also been inspired by the visual black comedy of the director Edgar Wright. In another intertextual moment we deliberately took an element of Wright's comedic style, which is to introduce objects into a scene in an odd fashion. In our film, Ross, is sat on the train looking annoyed, a person offers Ross some sweets through the gap in the chairs, Ross is visibily perturbed and rejects them. Seconds later the person who had his sweets rejected by Ross again appears through the gap in the seats and coughs in Ross' direction.

The link to the video of how Edgar Wright does visual comedy  


Another way in which we were inspired by 'Hot Fuzz' was copying the train journey that Simon Pegg takes to work. It is a collection of quick shots in succession to demonstrate a passage of time. 

 the film Inglorious Basterds can also to an extent be classed as a black comedy. To shorten our scenes and add direction to our film, like Tarantino does in various films, we have broken up our scenes into chapters like a book introducing the context of that part of the film.  

'Inglorious Basterds'.

A still from the final chapter of our film.

Tom Ryall's genre theory states: 'Genre provides a framework for patterns, forms, styles and structures.' These patterns are presented within genre through iconography, narrative structure, character representations and ideology. Our film conforms to Ryall's theory as it features the ideology associated with black comedy - to make light of serious issues so that they can be addressed. We are fans of the way in which Fargo, both the television series and the film, trivialises the human races' oldest fear, death.

Fargo - I think it was a hammering

Rick Altman's 'set of pleasures' states:

Emotional Pleasures - The emotional pleasures offered to audiences of genre films are particularly significant when they generate a strong audience response.

Visceral Pleasures - Visceral pleasures are 'gut' responses, defined by how the film's stylistic construction elicits a physical effect upon its audience. This can be a feeling of revulsion, kinetic speed or a 'roller coaster ride'.

Intellectual Puzzles - Certain film genres such as the thriller offer the pleasure in trying to unravel a mystery or a puzzle. Pleasure is derived from deciphering the plot and forecasting the end or being surprised by the unexpected. We included an intellectual puzzle within our film. Films that we have been inspired by that have intellectual puzzles are: 'Shutter Island', 'Inception', 'Fight Club' - which turns out to be a circular narrative. In the intellectual puzzle during our film Ross punches himself in the face but bangs Hooper's hand so it appears, to Karen, when she walks in that Hooper has assualted Ross. It is then left open as to whether Hooper has been fired or not. In the scene that follows which is the final the camera follows a pair of legs walking into the office like it did with Hooper at the beginning of the film. The audience has to guess whether it is Hooper or Ross. It turns out to be Ross who has replaced Hooper as boss and domineers over Simon when they had previously been equals. 

Audience pleasure:

During the process of constructing our media product we closely followed Blumler and Katz's Uses and Gratification theory. This theory assumes that media audiences are active consumers and they use media to satisfy certain needs. These include: Entertainment, education, socialisation and role models. The theory allowed us to discern what the audience wants from our media product and so we made it in accordance with the Uses and Gratifications model. We attempted to entertain our audiences with, for example, intellectual puzzles. We have, through the genre of black comedy, attempted to provide education about things we satirise, such as infidelity, suicide and depression.