Evaluation

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

1. This screen shot is taken from the opening credits. We are challenging normal media products conventions here by having the protagonist writing out the names of the cast and crew. We drew inspiration from the film ‘Napoleon Dynamite’, their credits were spelled out using food and different objects. Having the main character write out the credits on a dance school application audition form also relates to the narrative and draws in the audience’s attention.

2. This screen shot shows the main character approaching her friends in a street. This follows normal conventions in media products by having relaxed costume and a common location, such drama media examples like this are soap operas like ‘Eastenders’. The protagonist though is shown with her hair still in a bun focusing on how wherever she goes, she is thinking about dance. The shot is from the protagonist’s POV but also shows the distance, emotionally and physically, between her and her friends.


3. This screen shot shows the main character practising her dancing. It’s a low angle shot giving her an aura of power, many people in the audience incapable of performing this move would be impressed by this. The shot also refers back to the title of our short film. What the protagonist is performing is a jeté - a ballet leap in which the weight of the dancer is transferred from one foot to the other - We decided on this title because the meaning behind the definition shows the main characters split decision on what she wants to do with her life. We are following a dance genre convention here because many films, such as ’Billy Elliot’ use this specific ballet move.

  4. The screen shot shows the protagonist’s feet spinning as she practises her dancing. This shot started off as a rehearsal shot but we then added it in post production. We included this shot because not only does it give power to the protagonist’s dancing, it shows us just how many times dancers repeat their moves until they’re perfect. We are following the conventions of a real media product here because the film ‘Black Swan’, which is also a dance genre film, uses a similar shot and gave us our inspiration.

5. This screen shot shows the protagonist falling down after pushing herself to the limit from her practising. This shot is apart of a match on action sequence showing the main character fall. A stereotypical dance genre film will include a scene where their main character falls down while dancing creating a disequilibrium which will then correct itself later. We included this fall to create a more dramatic aspect to our narrative.

6. This screen shot shows the protagonist’s dancing silhouette at her audition in between the two judges who will decide her fate. This shot follows normal dance genre conventions, where the judges seem like villains but actually end up helping the protagonist achieve their dream such as the film ‘Step Up’. We wanted Faye to appear in between the two judges so the audience can see her audition from their POV.

7. This screen shot is a close up of the protagonist during her audition. We included this shot so the audience can get a more intimate look at the character and identify with her which is important within a Drama genre. We can also see how nervous the character is.

8. This screen shot is a medium shot showing the protagonist with her mother. A main feature in the Drama genre is realism so at this part in the narrative it will be effective on a teenage audience as they can identify with the protagonist as she has difficulties agreeing with her parents. This shot enables the audience to identify with Faye. The clothes Faye wears here also comments on the narrative. With her shirt saying the word ‘FREEDOM’, it shows the audience that freedom from her parents judgement is all wants.