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

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

O ur media product represented particular social groups in a familiar fashion. For example the main character in our film is a young adult male, he is seen skateboarding in the first action shot of the film. This is a representation of a vague subculture (pictured below left), as the act of skateboarding has connotations of belonging to this community, which in its self is extremely diverse and is know for its range of ages and types of people.

Perhaps more sterotypically the character is wearing a hooded sweatshirt (pictured below), not as a symbol of rebellion or youth violence but as a realistic depiction of what young people wear in 2011, as they are warm and relatively cheap. The main character is clearly anxious throughout the openng two minutes of the film and when the only other character in the film shouts at him from off screen he runs away very quickly. We felt that this was interesting as it was a comment on how teenagers still get frightened and are not as steel nerved as they would perhaps like to seem.

Furthermore, the character is shown to be alone the entire time, this conflcts with the image portrayed in the media of youths hanging around in large groups and not being to spend time on their own.

What kind of media institutions might distribute your media product and why?

M edia institutions such The UK Film Council and DNA Films could be seen as potential distributors for out film as they both support British film rather than the film being distributed by a coperate Hollywoodcompany. DNA Films also seemed an appropriate choice as they produced the Danny Boyle films Sunshine and 28 Days Later which are both rooted in science fiction in an unconvential way. For example 28 Days Later in paritcular appears to be a zombie horror film on the surface but it is also a comment on society and is more realistic and believable than other zombie films.

Who would be the audience of your media product and why ?

T he audience for our media product would be quite general, from ages 15 and up. The film is liable to having a male dominated audience due to its nature but we would hope that fans of films such as Alien and Blade Runner  would come and see this film  with a crossover appeal to fans of teenage based dramas such as Kidulthood

How did you attract/address your audience?

W e attempted to attract our target audience by creating a realistic and bleak depiction of the future. In a time when the news seems to be constantly focused on the struggling economy and global warming seems to be a real threat, this seemed appropriate as we felt that we were capturing the feeling of the time, adding to the paranoid feel of the film.  

We were also keen to depict the future as a blend of the gritty, social realist London depicted in Kidulthood (pictured right) and the dystopian, noire city depicted in Blade Runner (pictured above). This blend added a more science fiction based element to the London seen in Kidulthood and took away some of the more fantastical elements from the Blade Runner city.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

From this experience I feel I have grasped a good understanding of Final Cut through making this product and I would feel comfortable and confident in making another film.


 However, we made a decision as a team to use limited special effects to create a realistic feel in the opening of the film and perhaps these skills could be developed and looked into further.

 During this process I also learnt how to use Blogger, which proved to be a worth wile experience as it is a medium that is often over looked as a social networking site like Myspace or Facebook but it is in fact completely different and can literally be on any topic. Furthermore, I learnt the fundamental rules of film making and how important these are but also how they can be broken intentionally to create effect.  

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

I have learnt a great deal from the filming and editing our preliminary task (pictured right) to the full product (pictured below). For example continuity was one of the biggest issues in our preliminary task as was add libbing the dialogue which we learnt can only really be carried off well by trained professional actors. Because of the mistakes made in the preliminary task we were very meticulous in checking small details in our fubusged  product  which ultimately , paid off

Editing on Final Cut Express

We bagan editing our footage shortly after completing the filming. This proved to be a lengthy process but also enriching as I feel I learnt alot from it.


First Stages Of Editing

• Initially, we imported all the files that we had recorded. 
•  We then proceeded to filter through the clips, deciding which footage was the most suitable and of the best quality.
• After this, we cut the clips and started to piece them together chronologically.

Main Stages Of Editing

• When we had finished the basic timeframe of the film we bagan to incorperate filters and crossfading inbetween various cuts where appropriate
• As a team we decided to opt for using the filters that were pre programed into Final Cut rather than using the 'pen tool' which allows the user to dictate exactly where the cross fade/fade would begin and end
• Towards the end of the main editing of the footage we chose to focus of match on action and continuity, making sure that it was consistent as this proved to be an issue with our preliminary task
•  After this, we focused on a smaller, yet equally as important aspect of our film, the sound. For example, because of the choice of location and winter weather it proved to be windy on the day we chose to shoot. To compensate for this we used sound filters which allow the user to fade certain parts of the sound clip that runs underneath the time frame of the film.

Finishing touches and soundtrack

• Once we were pleased with the look of the footae as well as the diegetic sound we had to find a copyright free soundtrack
• We were both sure that the music had to be both modern and reflect the themes of the film
• Finally we incorperated the soundtrack chosen into the film. The first piece is an ambient piece, with no percussion or over riding power to . We used this in the title sequence at the beggining of the film
• After this we edited in our main source of music which is a copyright free sample of the genre 'dubstep'. We felt this was apropriate as the music is defined by minor tonality, this reflected the paranoid, mysterious atmosphere of the film.