Qs 1. In what ways does your product use or change codes and conventios of real media product?
Before giving an explaination to the particular question, first it is important to explain the ideology of my product and the film industry i chose for it to be catered to, as well as the genre it belongs to. It is an art film coliding with sub genres of drama and adventure. As i mention 'art' film, that automatically indicates that it belongs to 'art house cinema', that shows films of artistic merit, low to medium budget films, mainly produced outside the mainstream. And so i've chosen Bollywood, the Indian film industry, 'industry of Mumbai'. This is because in my film, the location, the structure, the actors and the idiology, all belong to the culture that places like India and Pakistan present. If i'd choose Hollywood for such a film it wouldn't seem appropriate. Coming towards conventions and terms, all different industries cater to genres in different ways. E.g conventons of an English horror would completely differ from that of an Indian horror. Same goes for art. This is mainly because art films are usually close to reality, that inludes the culture, traditions, beliefs and problems of the places the industries are located in, and so different industries have their own elements of reality shown in their art films. So it is very obvious that the conventions of same genre films from different industries will differ. An art film from Hollywood would cannot be compared to an art film from Bollywood. Bollywood art films have their own set of codes and conventions. These include, location and colour, that is, usually Indian art films tend to show areas of heir country, presented in vibrant colours, allowing the feel of the location to be vividly expressed. Audio works on its own way. It usually involves slow, emotional, sometimes adventurous and ethnic kind of music. Lighting is very unique. If the movie involves scenes from somewhere outside on the road, or in a market, a lot of natural light is used, along with color filters. I have mainly happened to notice blue and yellow filters used a lot in Indian Art films. The ideology behind these films is usually dramatic, close to reality, in other words, it represents social realism. Mainly you see no glamour and the typical spiced up entertainment. Things are left natural and simple in all ways. In order to make it closer to reality, The story line is extremely intelectual, at times even slightly obsurd, however, proper and simple media language makes it easy to read. The actors in the film are mainly ordinary looking with a simple appearance, appropriatly representing ther character. Also, these films tend to have a precise amount of narration or voice overs, e.g, at the start of the film or in the end, or simply as the movie goes on and events take place. The story line usually has a message to convey or a story to be told, at times, real events in the past are represented. Camera angles and technigues are mainly very 'artsy' giving the typical feel required that would appeal to the audience. Speaking of audience, these films have a very low level of target audience, maily the elite, educated class of people with in the age limit of seventeen to fifty, who easily unerstand the story as well as feel attracted to the plot. Coming towards my film, i dont think i have broken or changed any codes and conventios however, have managed to use as many as possible according to the research i did. Starting with my location, like real Bollywood art films, i chose to shoot my film in a very low class, congested and for the posh, 'filthy' market in order to represent the culture of my country. It was an outdoor shoot so a lot of natural light was used, which also enabled all the colors to show bright, just like any market would have in real.The idiology was realistic too, as i showed how the people of the elite class in our country react to problems and the way the deal with them. This is shown by the characters and their attitudes. I have shown a very posh mother, who is inconsiderate towards the problems her son is facing, this is made obvious by the actions and behaviour of her son throughout the scene and her vague and careless reaction towards it, being showed by her expressions and acting, same goes for her son, who by his expressions, act and appearance, makes it clear that he is over powered by his dominating mother and is slowly going weaker with time. I did not use any props since it was an out door natural shoot and i simply captured what was already there. The appearance of my actors was ordinary just like it wold be in real, no glamour, no spice.Coming towards conventions including audio, I made a score (background music) using digital insrtuments like the 'sitar' and 'tabla' that gives the ethnic tone to the entire product following a touch of other western instruments such as, the kick grand piano, oboe, triangle, strings and orchestral ensemble. While on the other hand, my film also starts with the voice over of my main character colidng with a back ground voice singing a luluby that i have done myself, just like art films from the real cinema. One thing i was most pushed about throughout my shoot was 'sound'. I made sure i recorded room tone that i have used thoroully. The exsistance of 'Ambient sound' makes my film look very original and real. There is a slight use of synchronous sound, however, most of the sounds in my film are asynchronous. This gives the right feel and i made sure i captured these sounds after i had examined art films in my research. According to conventions again, the language throughout the product, whether oral or media related, remained according to the story line. Even though my voice over is in English, I made my actor speak the way he does in real in order to capture the correct, original accent which enhances the mood of the product. Along with everything mentioned above, i made sure i used a few camera shots that would look unique and realistc, and so i took a number of 'Point Of View' shots and also left the camera shaky in a scene where my character walks along a street. This really gave the required affect, as my character's fainting in the scene and the camera movement makes that feel expressed strongly and i took this Idea from an Indian Movie 'Dav D'.
Lastly, art films that colide with sub genres like drama and adventure usually create a sort of enigma. As we were supposed to make an opening title, i made sure my product was a combination of sub genres of art and drama, and i kept in mind to use all the techniques and plot the scene in way that it creates that enigma and suspense and luckily, i was capable to do so as i ended my opening title when suspense grows to the fullist and the lead character faints, since such scenes leave the audience involved and curious to what happens next. My entire idea was to create the product in the utmost realistic and artistic way as possible, while conveying the story.
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