Evaluation 2

•    How does your media product represent particular social groups?

This film represents teenagers form working class backgrounds in a negative light. It follows young people from poor upbringings in their search for meaning in their seemingly empty lives. Some characters turn to the streets, involving themselves in drugs, theft and violence, which is stereotypically the way the media represents teenagers, especially in England, where the film is based. The protagonist is wearing a black tracksuit sort of thing, as one who cannot afford smarter attire would wear, when he walked into a small launderette, a place where people who cannot afford a washing machine would go. He then begins to approach a young man, who he then proceeds to attack, which is a criminal offence. His reasoning for this remains unclear for the first three minutes, suggesting the crime could have been done impulsively, as somebody would expect a young working class teenager to do. Just attack somebody on the streets without thinking. The music in the background is what somebody would expect a rather rebellious person to listen to - rock. The song is quite dark in meaning too, about a man who feels lonely, and lacks the ability to love. 

Evaluation 1

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

(Using conventions of real media products)
My film, Graves, adheres to convention in regards to the soundtrack - the music is consistent, and popular. And example of this would be in Reservoir Dogs - all the songs were popular songs form the 70s, and this was highlighted by the fact that the soundtrack was completely diagetic from the radio show "K-Billy's Super Sounds of the 70s". This gimmick is adhered to through the film. All songs were very popular. but to a specific audience - mainly of those who were active in the 70s. This is likely to give the audience a sense of nostalgia, but also, modern pop is played frequently on the radio, tv and in movies, so by taking the soundtrack back 20 years the audience will be hearing songs they more than likely appreciated back in the day but haven't heard it in a while or frequently enough to get on their nerves. This tactic is also employed in Guardians of the Galaxy. The soundtrack came off the main protagonists MP3 player, and were older, classic "Motown" style songs. Had it have been the Kanye West album "Yeezus" or something like that, many people would despise it as they may have liked the song when it came out, they've heard it so many times that it's insufferable. I chose Queens of the Stone Age's "Vampyre of Time and Memory" to be the first song in my movie because it's a popular song form a very loved album by a well known band, but it isn't main stream and was released two years ago, so for those who have heard it, it's likely to have been forgotten or, at least, not as played as on it's original release.

(Challenging convention)

Despite this, I challenge this convention by lacking dialogue throughout the film, in a fashion similar to "The Tribe". This way the film can also appear to deaf audiences without the need for subtitles or a translator at the bottom of the screen. This way the viewer can focus more on the actions, body language and symbolism of the character than the dialogue or sounds, however a soundtrack was used so audiences able to hear do not get bored.

(Developing conventions)
Referring to the previous point, I have developed the concept of a film for the deaf, and the use of the popular catchy soundtrack to create somewhat of a hybrid. Disregarding story, there will be three main reasons people would want to watch this film: Deaf people may find this appealing, knowing they can go to the cinema and see a film they can fully understand, but at the same time, not be segregated in the sense that only deaf people watch that movie, people who are fans of Queens of the Stone Age may want to check the film out, and finally people interested in the concept of a film without spoken language.

Main task

Company logo

This was an interesting task. Having to take into account most other company logos are very similar, I chose not to deviate from this approach - a simple, memorable picture and their name. The picture is in place to draw the eye, but not distract from the name often found near the image. The name is usually in readable font, and picture being something relative, like warner brothers, their initials, and then their name. Or universal, the planet with their name on it. I went for my own initials, as more of a self plug, and the name of my company below said initials.

First draft of main task

This is my first draft of my media main task. Upon seeing this, Mr Allen told me I needed sound effects and credits, along with a few other things. I will continue to follow his requests.

Saul Bass was a graphic designer and a film maker born in New York City on May 8th 1920, he then later passed away on April 25th 1996 in Los Angeles. In the 75 year gap between those two dates, he accomplished many things, and arguably the greatest of said achievements was revolutionising title sequences in the film industry. His original claim to fame was his title sequence in "The Man with the Golden Arm" in 1955, which was about a musicians struggle with a heroin addiction, a seemingly stereotypical topic to you and I, but back then 'twas a taboo subject.
Bass' title sequences appeared in amble amount of films:
Carmen Jones (1954)
The Big Knife (1955)
The Man with the Golden Arm (1955)
The Racers (1955)
The Seven Year Itch (1955)
The Shrike (1955)
Around the World in Eighty Days (1956)
Storm Center (1956)
Attack (1956)
Edge of the City (1957)
Saint Joan (1957)
The Pride and the Passion (1957)
The Young Stranger (1957)
Bonjour Tristesse (1958)
Cowboy (1958)
Vertigo (1958)
The Big Country (1958)
Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
North by Northwest (1959)
Psycho (1960)
Spartacus (1960)
The Facts of Life (1960)
Exodus (1960)
Ocean's 11 (1960)
West Side Story (1961)
Something Wild (1961)
Advise and Consent (1962)
Walk on the Wild Side (1962)
The Victors (1963)
Nine Hours to Rama (1963)
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)
The Cardinal (1963)
In Harm's Way (1965)
Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965)
Grand Prix (1966)
Not with My Wife, You Don't! (1966)
Seconds (1966)
Such Good Friends (1971)
That's Entertainment, Part II (1976)
Broadcast News (1987)
Big (1988)
The War of the Roses (1989)
Goodfellas (1990)
Cape Fear (1991)
Doc Hollywood (1991)
Mr. Saturday Night (1992)
The Age of Innocence (1993)
Higher Learning (1995)
Casino (1995)
Bass also designed various film posters and other such things, like company logos.