Evaluation question 2 (written version)

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our superhero and villain are presented to our audience as smart sophisticated and wealthy. This is shown by the costume used. The hero and villain both wear sharp clothing such as smart shirts and trousers. This gives the characters an essence of sensibility and upper class immediately. This also represents your stereotypical working class male as this is the stereotypical uniform for a higher/high rank middle class male with a reasonable job. We have shown our hero in his own house and in a fairly serious settled relationship this hints to his age. We wanted to present our character as an older male because this would make his life seem more successfully built and more organised. This also makes the possibilities of him being capable of being a super hero more possible. There is no general religion or culture shown in the characters life. This is so the hero character is easily related to by many audiences and this will allow our film to become more popular with all different people.

The main gender that takes the most important role is male. We chose to have a male as our main character as biologically males are stronger and are always seen to be the more dominant reliable gender. Males are also very popular with being hero’s and villains as they are already naturally stronger than females and then with added ‘super powers’ they become more of a threat or advantage to have around.  Examples of male super heroes doesn’t come short but just to give you a hint there’s: SuperMAN, BatMAN,IronMAN,SpiderMAN. This will also attract a female audience as stereotypically the male superhero will rescue a ‘damsel in distress’ and women like this element of seeing a saviour for females in need and this attracts them emotionally to the character. When Super man is out of his hero character and becomes Clark Kent his appearance completely changes as he becomes this man who is very vulnerable looking and still an outcast to society only for all the wrong reasons as he becomes a man who does not  approve of social standards and expectations. However we didn’t want to make our character seem vulnerable as this could imply he is aware of his situation so we kept him looking quite intellectual and intelligent more like the super hero Tony stark Who is Iron man when in his super hero persona and has a slight arrogance and confidence within himself.

Mise en scene, camera angles and movement, editing and sound:

The mise en scene is an important element in film making and producing a media product and therefore we had to carefully consider how we represented mise en scene in our film opening. In the first scene we see our character pause for a little while, smile and then puts the costume away this connotes to him being closely linked positively to this costume and has had shared good experiences with the costume and this further points out and highlights his super hero role. We see immediately that he is wearing a white shirt. The colour white is associated with purity and goodness and although we wasn’t as bold and brave as the superman costume we still intended to give our hero some significance and a costume that would help the audience identify him as a character. His hair is dark and yet neat this shows he cares about how other people view him as a person and maybe as an idol as he is a super hero and people will be looking up to him. The lighting in the first scene is coming from the back. We chose to use natural lighting to create more of a realistic morning effect and atmosphere for our scene. The lighting lights up his costume and lights half his face however part of his face is heavily6 shaded from being blocked from the light this is where we first show indications of a ‘darker side’ to our character.  This also disables the audience to be able to see his full face and be properly introduced to him and therefore this shows he could be hiding a part of him that is not viewable to the public just yet.

              We see the colour of the furniture is a light brown and this is a reoccurring colour for furniture throughout the whole of the film opening this suggests some sort of order with his life and has a modern taste. We then see his alarm clock which is a digital alarm clock suggesting he is up to date with his surroundings. We included a time change during the filming of the clock this adds a sense of drama and slight tension and signals the start of the film almost like a trigger as the time starts to tick. We then see a pocket watch and a flash of static. The fact that the villain has a pocket watch indicates he doesn’t have such a modern mind and approves more of past living and instruments such as the pocket watch. Having a villain who prefers older ways from past generations indicates a very intelligent intellectual man as he would have to have done his research. An example of this would be John Doe from the film ‘ Seven’. In this film John believes that the 7 deadly sins are represented in modern society and takes it in himself to fix the problem by making people suffer and try and force them to see the wrongs they are doing. This gives our character a sinister atmosphere as he seems old fashioned yet experienced and intelligent. The white static almost acts as a symbol for the audience to signal the appearance of the villain and to signal his presence. We used the static image because it creates a surreal image and a disturbing image and this helps create the feel for the villain and his presence in general. We then see the hands of the villain and we see that we are at a low angle. This makes us feel at the mercy of the villain kneeling to his powerful suffocating atmosphere as the shadows swallow his face and body disguising his appearance almost completely. This keeps the viewers interested waiting to see who the real identity of the villain is.

           After this little snippet of drama we then see the hero sitting down to have breakfast. This indicates that he is completely oblivious to what is happening and also still suggests he lives a normal average life and is what society would class as an average guy. However he seems to be completely naive about the whole situation of a villain being present somewhere. The big mirror behind him creates another perspective in the frame allowing the audience to establish the surroundings more as it reflects part of the room and this helps create the homely feel as the audience see his setting. The room is also very well lit with natural lighting this helps create a positive atmosphere for the hero as he is down to earth.  We then see the very low lit room of the villain’s secret room with his scrap book wall. This shows that unlike the hero the villain is very disorganised and intense with his work. Immediately we are seeing contrasts between the two. We gave the villain a secret room as stereotypically villains have a place of work they call a ‘lair’ where they do all there evil doings. This is a stereotypical a code and convention of a villain. We see the villain pacing this suggests he is a tense stressed character and this adds power intense thinking to his character and gives him the element of strength in fear as he is presented as a scary character and yet his violent nature makes him look aggressive and powerful. We see images of clocks on the wall this suggests some sort of obsession and fascination he has with the objects or their purpose as people often put posters on their wall of something they really like and are interested in and this is another way of us allowing the audience to see more elements of his personality and character. We then see a news clipping that reads ‘ hero does it again’ This is suggesting that part of the obsession he has is with the villain. By now the audience have been exposed to the identity of the villain and now they can follow the plot more intensely as we have twisted the expected appearance and infact made the hero the villain this will make our character more interested as a whole and also makes him unpredictable and this will excite the audience. An example of this would be the ‘Green Goblin’ in Spider-man as he has a freak accident which enables him to develop a mental illness and an alter ego who is intent on creating chaos and the real identity of the green goblin hides behind the friendly well known character of Norman Osborn.

         We are then presented with a page of the hero’s normal life as a lady walks down the stairs. Within the frame she follows the rule of thirds this makes her more aesthetically pleasing to look at as the rule of thirds makes her the main focus point in the frame. The lighting around her is natural and bright this is a link to the hero and makes a slight link and connection between the characters. We again see the white static image signalling the villain and then we see a shot of a pocket watch opening. This is a swift action and I believe that this is being presented to the viewers as the villains weapon and he is taunting us with it and making quick simple gestures using the pocket watch and this shows that this is easy to use as threatening material this adds to his surreal character. The pocket watch opening is almost like the trigger of a gun going off as it symbols something is about to happen with devastating consequences from a small movement such as the pulling of a trigger on a gun or a flick of a Swiss army knife. During the conversation between the hero and the girlfriend the lighting is still well lit indicating a positive atmosphere and natural conversation. The setting is still in the house identifying that the two live together and during the conversation she states she has different parents. This is a clear statement to the audience that she is involved with him as a girlfriend.

       We then see quick shown images of all the villains icons and logos in sped up frames. This reflects everything drawing nearer and becoming more of a threat as the problems are catching up. This is like a scene of a disaster in an action movie. Everything feels it is happening at once and nothing seems to slow down this keeps viewers interested and occupied with everything that is going on in the frame this also gets pulses racing as we are leading up to a main event. This is a popular code and convention used in action films. We then see the real aggressive nature of the villain being introduced as he starts show aggressive traits. He rips off the papers on his wall as he begins to get angry and frustrated at the fact that he cannot access the powers of the hero and him ripping down the papers is him expressing his hatred and deep emotional discontent with himself as he questioning his abilities as a villain as when he is in his hero state of mind he able to do what seems like the impossible to him. The villain in a moment of outrage flips a table causing some sort of destruction to his surroundings showing that he is a dangerous strong and powerful character who is unpredictable and has a temper. This temper could be his weakness and his strength as he able to produce a violent outburst causing some form of destruction. A character who also has a temperamental temper is the ‘Hulk’ this unexpectable yet dangerous temper makes him a liability and a danger to people around him and this enable him to be stereotypically labelled as a villain however in the film Hulk he has good intentions and in fact a sweet gentle nature. However our character does not have these kind hearted interests which don’t allow his anger issues to balance out.

The editing used was to highlight and represent moods and atmospheres throughout the film opening and help make our film look more professional and fluent throughout. The titles we have used fade in and fade out therefore they are slowly introduced to the audience for them to read and then they fade out giving them reasonable amounts of time to read the titles. The first scene fades in for this same effect it allows the audience to be slowly introduced to the character and this allows them time to get interested and draws them into the film and its unlikely yet strikingly different plot. An action match is used when the hero places his costume into the wardrobe this makes the action more fluent and also allows the audience to gain two perspectives on the same scene. A cut away is then used to the alarm clock and to a pocket watch so we see the immediate differences and these two clocks act as representatives for the characters as we see the two different characters shown in the different clocks. The transitions we have used between scenes are cuts as this makes them abrupt and gives an element of shock and surprise. Slow motion is also used to make the pacing more intense and dramatic. Slow motion is often used in action genres to highlight a significant scene and create tension. This scene is also a cut away so the audience know that this is a previous event that is relevant to the present scenes being shown and help reflect past flash backs and memories perhaps. Match on action is used as the female character walks down the hallway again this is to offer two perspectives of the motion to the audience. Quick cuts are used frequently using clips of the clocks, villain, static and the news paper clipping. This highlights the fact that they are all relevant and key to the villain’s frustration and to the plot.

Sound helps us present specific moods and helps us represent and present the character to the audience throughout the film opening. The sound is key in this film opening as we have given the characters sound motifs to indicate a difference in character even though they are played by the same person. This enables our audience to immediately indentify the change in character from hero to villain. Both heroes and villains have been known to have sound motifs to alarm and alert the audience to a significant scene approaching that will involve this main individual character. The most famous sound motifs for a villain character would be either Darth Vader or Jaws. Both these characters are given low key heavy sound motifs which immediately indicate the dark nature of these characters and this allows the audience to embrace and feel the expectation and fear that other characters are feeling. However heroes can also have sound motifs for the same reason such as superman, A-team and Indiana Jones.

             For our super hero we used a sound track for his sound motif called fixing my brain by Brad Sucks. The music fades in and mainly consists of acoustic guitar. Acoustic guitar is known for its gentle qualities and for the down to earth material it creates. The instrument is a very urban soft instrument which produces music of sorrow and love both in which we feel for the hero. The villain has a more advanced score of music for his appearance this is to show him as more complexed, thought through and different through different ways and this again helps us highlight his unpredictability and his hidden away full character as we only see snippets of his personality so the music allows the audience to build a better picture of who the villain is and how he feels towards the hero. The main sound motif for out villain is a soundtrack which consists of a dark low key drone and this creates an ominous tone and because the music is in low key this helps present our character as evil. Another element of sound used to highlight the villain is the clock ticking. This reflects the nagging feeling of not being able to control time and acts as a mocking laughter of a high school bully who is getting the better of you. The time is the bully and the ticking is its mocking laugh. The ticking also acts as a constant reminder of the focus point of the plot and the important role of the clocks. The metal scratching in some of the scenes helps create an uncomfortable sound and adds that eerie creepy feel to the villain. Because the metal scratches and creates this unnatural sound this will cause slight discomfort to the audience keeping them alerted. The camera zoom noise also has a grainy, slow, irritating noise. This will again cause some slight discomfort in the audience and make them interested as our audience we are aiming at will expect some sort of displeasure expressed through some scene whether that be through mild violent or scenes exposing violent and complex characteristics.

     Dialogue then takes place between the hero and female character this is to add some sense of reality to our film opening and keep the plot feeling realistic and will enable the audience to bond to the hero as the villain does not make any dialogue throughout the whole film opening.  The fact that the hero has to ask if he has plans on that night shows that he is not as organised as presented and this almost act as a countertype as he seems fragile and scrambled for an explanation on not being able to recognise or remember situations. During the conversation the soundtrack/sound motif for the hero is playing quietly in the background to still represent his present and still create that relaxed atmosphere.  When the villain begins to become frustrated we started to allow the recorded sounds to be heard such as the paper ripping off the walls. This adds intensity to this motion as we can hear it happening. The table being flips is also raw sound and this loud crash can resembles this man’s world falling down crashing to the floor as he is starting a war with himself which he perhaps doubts he will win. The closest thing the villain has to dialogue in the whole of the film opening is a hearty, desperation scream which he lets out during his frustration and in his moment of anger flipping the table. This adds more aggression to the scene this scene them becomes raw material as violent nature is exposed to the audience.

To present our character camera angles and movement were highly considered and we took great care in what techniques to use. The first scene is a side angle shot. This is to show the character and part of the setting immediately so the audience can start to get settled and comfortable as they start the get into the film. A wide angle shot is used in the same scene from behind the character to introduce more of the character and mainly settings to the audience this again will help the audience adapt to the scene they are being shown. A close up is used on the alarm clock to highlight its significance in the whole of the plot. When the villain is spinning the pocket watch we took this at a low angle. This makes the villain look powerful and superior compared to the audience and this will intimidate the audience as we are making them seem the weaker individuals and they will feel instinctively threatened by this character. A wide angle shot is used as the hero eats his breakfast this is again so we can see most of the setting and allow the audience to settle in with the character. This also enables us to capture the mirror in the frame which offers a new perspective with the reflection. This could symbolise the double personality and perspective that will be shown throughout the film itself. A side angle shot is used as the villain paces this is to make his strides seem more time consuming and achieving as we see where he is walking to and from and considering this is only a little distance this adds to his insanity and craziness. A slight panning shot is also used so the audience is allowed to follow him where he walks and this will highlight and define the pointlessness of his pacing and make him seem even more crazy. A zoom in is used on the news paper clipping. This adds significance and importance to the news paper snippet and the fact that the camera was handheld for this scene means we have the camera shaking slightly making the scene feel more human and makes the audience feel more involved and related to this characters obsession and this creates better understanding for the audience. A close up of the watch is used as close ups are used to emphasise a point and object. A high angle is also used as the watch opens up. This allows the watch to become the main focus point and although this makes the watch look small and quite fragile the fact that it is shown so often makes it seem very powerful and controlling.

          When dialogue is taking place between the hero and the female character over the shoulder shots are used this is to make the audience feel physically involved with the scene and allows the audience to see all facial expression and slight body langue through the lens of the camera which is represented the girlfriend’s point of view. A zoom in is used on the pocket watch. The camera was also hand held through this and this creates that same human imperfect effect. As the girlfriend leaves the camera begins to go out of focus. This creates a surreal effect and can reflect the vagueness off his own mind. We see a sped up zoom in on the clock this creates a sketchy and twitchy feel to the scene making it seem very distraught and jumpy. A wide angle is used as the villain rips of the picture so the audience sees him approaching the wall and this helps build the tension of the scene. A high angle is used as the villain flips the table this is to reflect his weak state as he loses his temper and his control giving him powerless forceful retreat to his unpredictable emotions.