Evaluation Activity 1:

In what ways does your media product use, develop or

challenge forms and conventions of real media
products?
Title:

At the beginning of the project, my group and I werent

exactly one hundred per-cent certain which film name would be
suitable for our production. We knew that using a short title
would be effective as it would be easy to remember and catch
the audiences attention as they attempt to imagine what the
film could be about.
Eventually, my group and I decided to go with the name Stay
Frosty. This small phrase is used in the military and means
to stay alert and be on ones toes. The titles gives those who
are familiar with the term a hint at what the production is
actually about, and those who arent a sense of mysteriousness
which may convince them to find out more.

Title, Font and Style:

The title (which is shown pictured above) is yellow with a

lighter-yellow outer glow, with grids/radars in the
background. This doesnt really conform to the usual
convention of the action genre as action film posters/titles
usually consist of white or dark colours (such as red or
black) which connote danger. When Choosing the text colour, I
decided to make the colour yellow as it made it stick out from
the background, which was my original aim, making it easier
for the audience to see it. I also chose to keep the outer
glow as a yellow colour as experimentation with other colours

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didnt suit my taste. I wanted to make sure that our title

could easily be associated with the genre of action and that
it could be recognised. The Terminator Two font gave it a
technical look of what you would see on a computer, which fit
the scene/production.

Setting/Location of the Production

We decided to shoot our production in our secondary school,

Oaks Park High School. This was a fairly ideal location as it
somewhat supported the forms and conventions of the action
genre as a-lot of action films are set in a building of some
sort, making the production more relatable. We wanted our
production to be set in a school as the long corridors created
suspense, maintaining the audiences attention as they awaited
to see what happened next. Also, the audience werent told alot about the location in our
opening sequence so it gave a sense
of mysteriousness. The corridors and
the elevator added to the
verisimilitude as they both gave the suggestion that it was
located in a building.

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Camerawork and Editing

Even though my role was editor,
the production was mainly based
on my idea. It was fairly easy to
achieve and turned out more-orless what I had original
envisaged, although a few ideas
were talked through with, with
the other members of my group
At the beginning of the project, we decided (as a group) that
we wanted to follow the protagonist of the production through
his journey/mission. To do this, we used a variety of shots to
capture certain scenarios. This included shots such as closeups and the increasingly popular POV shot. The types of shots
that we used were conventional as they are usually used to
capture violence and facial expressions in films of the action
genre.
Throughout the process of editing our footage, I spent a-lot
of time making sure that our production looked realistic and
believable. I also had to make sure that the shot to shot
transition was smooth, as having a sketch transition would
cause the production to look tacky and unprofessional.

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Costume and Props:

The costume of our protagonist (shown

left) was essential to the narrative of
our production. We had to make sure that
his outfit/costume fitted the scene,
making it look natural. In order to do
this successfully, we had to follow the
codes and conventions extremely carefully,
dressing our character in dark colours,
giving him a sense of mysteriousness and
danger.
This kept his identity a secret throughout
the duration of the opening sequence,
which led to the audience wanting to find
out more about his TRUE identity.

The costume of one of our antagonists also

consists of dark colours (much like the
protagonist). The colour gives them a dark,
somewhat dangerous persona. The dark clothing
on both characters makes the audience
question at the beginning who the protagonist
and antagonists are, which will maintain
their attention whilst they watch the opening
sequence, drawing them to want to see more.
However, the use of a suit, tells the
audience that the characters are young men as
this outfit would be worn in an office
environment.

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The two props used throughout the duration of the opening

sequence can be pictured above. The gun was the MAIN prop as
it could be scene with every shot that the protagonist was
featured in. The use of the gun helped us to highlight the
action genre to the audience as it connotes violence. It also
helped to add to the realism of our sequence, since it was a
conventional item to use in an action scene. This draws the
audiences attention because as they see the gun, the sense
that violence is about to take place. The gun was also
slightly worn out, signifying to the audience that it had been
used before (maybe in a past encounter). This also supports
the genre and adds realism to the scenes of the sequence. The
other prop that was used, was the white watch that the
characters checked as he entered the elevator. We decided to
use this prop as the character usually has a watch to check
the time before he enters battle.

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How the characters are introduced:

Our protagonist, Jonathan (pictures top left) is the first

character to be seen by the audience. This is stereotypical of
the action genre as the protagonist is usually the first
character to be shown as he is the main character of the
production. The audience follow his journey which tells him
that he is the main center of attention.
Also, the use of the cliff-hanger at the end of the opening
sequence leaves the audience wondering what happens next,
which may persuade them to watch the full movie, keeping them
in suspense.
The antagonists (pictured top right, bottom left and bottom
right) are the second, third and fourth to be seen by the
audience. They are seen as they attempt to eliminate the
protagonist who is on the road to completing his goal. The
antagonists act as enemies who stand in his way which is a
stereotypical scenario that would occur in an action film,
therefore meaning it is conventional.

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Genre and how the opening sequence suggests it:

In order to make the genre of our production clear to the
audience, we including many different codes and conventions
such as:

Violence (suggested by the use of the pistol, held by the

protagonist)
Suspense (shown by anticipating soundtrack in the
background and the cliff-hanger where the protagonist is
unexpectedly and suddenly attacked)

Story and how the opening sequence sets it up:

Through the use of micro-elements, we managed to emphasise the

genre of action to the audience and set up the rest of the 90
minute production. I think that we managed to set up the story
successfully as we ended with a cliff-hanger where the
protagonist had just completed his mission and was
unexpectedly attacked (pictured on the left). This leaves our
audience wondering what the outcome was, which will set up the
rest of the film whilst encouraging them to watch the full
production. In addition, our title Stay Frosty somewhat
uncovers the genre of our film and what it could possibly be
about.

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