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

By Liam Richardson

Stock Narratives

In our film we used Tzvetan Tordovs Equilibrium theory.

Equilibrium

Distribution

Resolution

Restore Order

New Equilibrium

• We chose this Narrative technique as is helps to engage the audience right from the beginning of the film.

• This is done by showing them some of the luxury's of a gangster life. For example this may include the nice car or house at the beginning of out film. This will make the audience want to carry on watching.

Themes

• The theme for our film was quite a dark theme that aims to give off the vibe of it being a very serious.

• It also shows that audience what type of people or characters are, and how they are not ones to be messed with.

• Other films that use similar themes are Godfather or Goodfellas .

Stock Characters

• James Adams, the head of the family and leader of the gang, played by Daniel Payn.

• I have compared him to Don Corleone from the very successful Godfather.

• This is someone we tried to base our character on, and I think that Daniels mannerisms in our opening reflect this.

Stock Characters

• Charlie Doherty, the recruit, played by Liam Richardson. I compered this character to Hennery Hill from Goodfellas.

• I chose him as the characters journey is very similar. They are both about going through the ranks in a Mob.

Stock Characters

• Joe Martins, the business man, played by Jacob O’Neil.

• I have compared this character to James Conway from Goodfellas. I chose this character as in the film he covers a large majority of the business side in the Gang.

Stock Characters

• Frank Adams, the brother of James Adams, played by Alex Ratcliffe. I compared this character to Sonny Corleone.

• I chose him as like in our film, he is the brother of the boss.

Stock Settings

• We used this setting to base the introduction to our film as it is a modern looking house yet has that old fashioned British feel to it through the wooden beams. This emphasises the fact that this is a British film with a British gang.

• This is different to most Mafia films as they are set in America, and therefore fashions are different.

Stock Setting

• This is the house used by Godfather to be the home of Mafia boss Don Corleone.

• There are similarities between the two houses. For example both have the same English Tudor style.

• Both also have the same dark weather and have trees with no leaves showing it winter/ autumn.

Style of Presentation

Camera

We used a POV shot to give the audience a more personal experience. This allows them to put themselves in the position of the character.

I thing that the dolly out in the hall helped to build tension In the opening. It also starts to give the audience an idea of what is happening.

Editing

One of the editing features hat we used was altering the lighting by applying a dark tint. We done this as it gives a darker, meaner feel to the film. We want this as a gang film is not meant to be a bright and uplifting.

We also used Fade up and Dade down features. This makes the footage see slower than it actually is. There are no sudden cuts which look out of place.

Editing

We inserted the title at this point in the introduction as we did not want it to look like a trailer by leaving it longer. We chose this font as its elegant just like the glamorous life of a gangster. We made it gold for the obvious reason that, Our film is called the golden age.

We used adobe premier elements to insert a zoom in feature. This created a bit more tension when the story is being told.

Sound

The music that we used was a very slow tempo piece. It involved main violins. This is because it is a high class instrument, and we tried to portray this in the film.

Diegetic Sound

We found that even though we have the music we still needed some diegetic sound at the same time. For example at the beginning of our film we still wanted the sound of the car pulling up, and the characters getting out and walking t the door.

Misè en scene

• We tried to include as much mafia iconography as possible. For example the smart looking convertible car at the start.

• We also used the Desk in front of the large windows. We used this as it has been used in other films of this genre like Scarface.

• We also put paperwork on the table. This shows the business side of the mafia.