Question 1:

In what ways does your media

product use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions of real
media products.
 Short Film Conventions
There are certain aspects within my short film which I have matched
and have been influenced by with existing products, in particular short
films.
These conventions are used within short films to make them effective,
especially visual ones. They are important as short films rely heavily
upon these visuals to represent meaning in both literal and figurative
meanings.
From the research carried out on ‘Whitestone Motion picture’ in the
first section of my blog. I could see the importance of some elements
within their short films in particular. I therefore decided that it would be
ideal to incorporate them into my own short film on the basis that they
look effective. But also that my short film will be part of the production
company, and focusing on the elements; lighting and colour, seem to
be some of their traits within their short films.

I will show some of the conventions included within existing short films which
I thought were visually effective, and thus decided to incorporate within my
own short film.
 Themes
Short films normally consist of themes, in what they are trying to represent. They
can be created though many aspects, including; lighting sound, mise-en scene,
to name but a few. It is normally these themes which give short films their artistic
nature, appearance and content.
Real products
My product

The Candy Shop

Like in “The Candy Shop” symbolism played a key part within my own short film.
Within “The candy shop” the candy produced is designed to represent the young
girls who are being sexually exploited. Whilst in mine the wilting flower is designed
to show the death of the character. It could be perceived that this objects where
chosen to substitute the real subjects because of their innocent and normal
connotations. As a result, it would then create even more of an impact on what
they are representing.
 Real products
Themes
My product
The use of black and white within
Fear is effective as it reinforces
the context of fear being at night.
Visually it creates a greater
contrast between the black and
white, thus enhancing the fear
within the film. I wanted to use
Fear
black and white within my short
film for artistic reasons. The effect that it created meant that I could emphasise the
contrast within these scenes and the coloured, and create a juxtaposition.
Like the example of “The
Watchmaker’s son” I wanted
to use artificial lighting.
Within the Watchmaker’s
son, it creates the idea of the
story being a fairytale
The Watchmaker’s through its non-natural
son aesthetics. Whilst in mine, it
is designed to look more formal and thus emphasise to the audience the non-
naturalistic element of the protagonist’s own world.
 Themes
Real products My product
Within the example of
“That’s Magic” (left) there
is the use of lighting to
represent how the
protagonist of the story,
comes to believe
something. At first he lives
That’s Magic
in the shadow, but when
he has his epiphany he is
shown in the light.
It took this concept of the
lighting change
incorporated it into my
That’s Magic own short film. (right)
However, I instead had it so that the lighting with my protagonist’s own world was
bright, to show how she was free and happy there, whilst in the real world it was
dull, to show its harsh realities.
I then took this one set further and within the real world, I had the de-saturation
levels increase throughout the film, to show has it is becoming worse and that the
character it finding it ever more difficult to cope.
 Camera shots
The camera shots and angles chosen are very important within
short films. Due to the fact that they are highly visual, they need
to include certain shots to convey meaning within the film.

My product
Real products
I thought that the shot of
Fear the character lying in the
bed was effective. It
showed the audience the
comfort of the boy in his
own bed.
This was why I included a
Bobby Watkins similar shot within my own
film, I thought that it would
be effective in showing
how in the character's own
world, she is relaxed and
comfortable in her own
bed.
 Real products
Camera shots
My product
The close up shot of the
character shouting run in
“Lest we forget” was very
emotional and moving. By
having the speed also
reduced meant that the
Lest We Forget audience were able to
see his face and really grasp the emotion of the character. I therefore decided that
within one of the scenes within my own film, that I would incorporate it. In addition, I
also had mood music to enhance the emotion within the scene.

The use of the two

shot close up in
“Heartless” effectively
showed to the
audience how in love
Heartless the characters were.
I therefore decided to incorporate it into my own. Even though it is not evident that
these two characters are in love, it is designed to subtly hint to the audience of
their relationship. Thus making it an effective method of presenting relationships to
the audience in a subtle method.
These are some examples of how I have
incorporated short film conventions and
forms within my own product. By looking in
particular at Whitestone Motion Pictures, it
really helped me to understand what they
include within their films, so that I could then
apply them to my own. A s a result, making
my short film effective and fitting within their
methods and making it believable to be one
of their short film productions.