Ma vie Londres

DEMI MICHAEL PRODUCTION EVALUATION G321: Foundation Portfolio in Media

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

Within our final product of an opening sequence we decided to delve into the romantic comedy genre. Exploring conventions of rom-coms which challenge and conform to the stereotypical romantic comedies of the 21st century. Introducing the French culture also gave us another pathway to lead down when exploring the hybrid genre. We were able to combine the French presence within the stereotypical British school life. Conventions iconic to romantic comedies which we have explored include typical locations of British/American Rom-Coms. The typical school locations; class rooms, locker rooms and stairwell can all be intertextual with the highly successful and popular rom-com Cinderella Story along with many other Rom-Coms within the media industry. Locker rooms intertextual with A Cinderella story

Proving each time, to meet the requirements of the target audience. Aiming to target a youthful audience without excluding those of an older age to enjoy and engage with the narrative. Uses and gratification theory can be applied here, as film directors along with ourselves are able to integrate the conventions that the audience demand and require for this hybrid. Allowing the narrative to be more enjoyable and widely accepted as a successful and conventional medium of this genre. Despite this being set within the American culture the ideology between romantic comedies internationally is similar if not exact. Concluding that there will always be a positive outcome and the iconic happily ever after which is identified and associated with rom coms. Allowing the narrative to end on a conventionally stereotypical ending ensures that the audience is consistently injected that the film they are watching is relevant to the rom com genre, therefore the hypodermic needle theory can be applied as the audience from start to finish are bombarded and injected with conventions of the romantic comedy. This is seen within our sequence, including a soundtrack, montage, dialogue and clothing all having relevance to the hybrid we aimed to satisfy. The consistency throughout our sequence with romantic comedies allows the audience to be constantly familiarised with the narrative and genre of the opening sequence and film to follow. The soundtrack which we created was a combination of French instruments, e.g. the accordion. This enabled us to keep a consistent theme throughout the sequence ensuring that the audience does not forget that Monique is an outsider. The soundtrack plays throughout the sequence, and during the montage. This satisfies Levis Strauss binary opposition theory. As the montage creates an image and presence of London however the soundtrack opposes that by setting a French theme to each frame of the montage. The soundtrack is able to be heard throughout the entire sequence this allows the audience to identify that Monique never really forgets or detaches from her culture. Despite her efforts to blend in and settle down subtly her culture means she will be seen as an outsider and her presence to a new school is uncomfortable. The soundtrack also familiarises the audience of Monique's inability to completely fit in with those already in school. This emphasise the proximity of Monique and the other students and allows the audience to empathise with her emotions. Through the use of POV shots and close ups the audience can also visualise Monique's exclusion and what effect this has on her. When she is approached by the two males there is a close up of her face allowing the audience to clearly establish the change of emotions when she feels more accepted. This conforms to the generic conventions of rom coms and females are usually those who show and exploit more emotions.

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

Our actors within the sequence also conform to the romantic comedy conventions. The dominant female character challenges yet conforms to the role of which a female plays within. How to lose a guy in 10 days and House bunny are popular romantic comedies which also present a dominant and powerful female character, this can be intertextual with our female actress Monique as both characters have in common the ability to manipulate males emotions and use this to their power and order to gain status. Challenging the role of a female within rom coms and also challenges Propps 8 character theory. Propp states that the female is a prize or pleasure to the male and is not seen as higher status of the male. We chose to have Monique playing a timid French exchange student who unintentionally causes disruption between other male students. Intertexuality can be applied with High school musical as both narratives involve a female from outside the welcomed school and their developments through school and how their presence cause friction and conflicts between other class mates. This could engage and broaden our target audience to both genders as both genders have equal distribution throughout frames and the narrative. This allows us to exploit emotions from both genders and enable the audience to engage and empathise with the proximity of the actors/actresses within our sequence.

The use of our montage is highly important to our sequence. This instantly sets a clear outline and location for the audience. The montage consists of many iconic images of London and a different image appears in the frame. We decided to present the montage through a photo album which connotes that Monique could see London as a holiday and that she feels like a foreigner despite not having an intention on returning to France. The images used are of iconic landmarks of London which stereotypically tourists would appreciate and photograph, this conforms to how we wanted to portray Monique. Again, throughout the montage the soundtrack is playing which contradicts the London theme, combining French and British cultures; conforming to Levi Straus Theory.