Mock Exam

This is my mock exam on the thriller film Kalifornia. I looked at representation, audience, narrative structure and conventions of the thriller genre when watching and note taking on this film.

Notes:

Essay:

Comments & Mark:

Technological Advancements in Film

This is an essay that i did on technological advancements in film for my film industry class in media. It was intended for practice for our exam in the summer and to help us gain information on the subject incase it appears in our exam.

Storyboards

Here are the storyboards that my group and I created. The narrative was structured using all of our opinions and we were all aware that when shooting and editing the film there would be evident changes needed due to too ambitious ideas and problems with our shooting schedule and location availabilities.

Target Audience

Grange Hill: young teens

There is use of quite childish animation which at times is humerous. It is shown on CBBC which automatically makes the audience associate the show with children and the time slot of around 5pm indicates that the target audience is for children/ young teens.

Hollyoaks: teenagers/ young adults

They use lots of goodlooking actors to appeal to the audience. The use of gender/ sex symbols in the titles suggest that sex is referenced within the the show which makes the target audience more obvious. A pink and blue colour scheme shows that the show is for both male and female viewers and the time slot of 7pm indicates that the show is suitable for mid-teens onwards.

Hollyoaks Later: older teens/ young adults

This show clearly links to Hollyoaks because it includes a lot of the same characters; the black, silver and red colour scheme suggests that there is a lot more sexuality within in it and that it is much more glamorous than Hollyoaks. The time slot of 10.30 pm shows that it is likely to be intended for older teenagers and young adults.

Skins: older teens

Crazy, out of control parties, drugs, alcohol and loud music are all presented in the Skins opening. Current music is used and the events are quite relatable to teen life. The lifestyle shown is quite extreme and more of a desirable lifestyle for teens; the images shown aren't very glamorous but show excitement and quite a rebellious lifestyle that is enticing to the target audience. The time slot of 10pm indicates that it is for older teens and allows drug use, sex scenes etc to be shown.

Conventions Within TV Dramas

Teen Drama:
Specific target audience social issues relevant to target audience- pregnancy, date rape, alcohol & drug addiction/abuse, sexuality, youth crime, relationships, anorexia, attractive characters, representational range of recognisable character types, authenticity.

Soap Operas:
Representation of crime, socially 'real' issues, narrative formula, never ends, dramatises significant/ real events, crime, death, alcohol/ drug abuse, social/ media events apparent.

Costume Dramas:
Links to classic novels/ plays, life very different to our own, significant/ real events.

Medical/ Hospital Dramas:
Sense of real time, based on true life, representation of crime, representation of health, narrative formula, socially 'real' issues.

Police/ crime Dramas:
Representation of crime, socially 'real' issues, narrative formula, sense of real time.

Docu-Drama:
Celebrity focus or political, dramatise significant or real events.

TV Drama- Hollyoaks: Max's Death

The representation of death in this clip is initially quite dramatic. This is shown by the use of slow motion as Tom’s toy drops to the ground and the dramatic music. Having said this, the scene shows realism when Max is hit by the car because it is shown exactly as it is; it is true to life. The shot is fast and quite disorientating and Nile’s reaction after the cars impact is what you would expect of a car crash. I think that death is also romanticised in this because it is represented as a heroic act. Max ran into the road to save Tom; a selfless act that shows that he is a caring person. His death is only a sad moment for the people around him; he still seems to be as optimistic as ever, saying things like “Today’s the best day of my life” and “I love you”. All of these factors give death quite a positive tone as they are suggesting to the audience that even in death you can be hopeful.

The scene is relatively fast paced and a sense of tension is created right from the start because of the diegetic sounds used. The music is dramatic and there is a light sound of a hospital monitor, foreshadowing near future events and warning the audience.

Steph is the only woman to appear in the scene. Her reaction to Max’s death is quite erratic and she seems to be in denial for a moment. She says “no, no” suggesting that she doesn’t want it to be true and doesn’t want to face reality. This is quite a contrast to Max’s behaviour because he seems to be accepting of death. This presents women as quite dependent and emotional but not in a bad way.

After Max’s death, the camera tracks up to a tree and then to an intense white sky. The vivid white sky, along with the angelic church music, suggests that Max has gone to heaven. This reiterates the optimism that he showed just before death and suggests to the audience that there is hope in death. This could be seen as prejudice because some people do not believe in heaven and are not religious. The suggestion of it could be seen as quite closed minded and not considerate of a wide audience.

As the show is a teen drama, it is essential for them to make the scene not too graphic and make light of an awful situation that is why death isn’t shown as dark and daunting thing.

Following this, there is a video clip taken on a camcorder of Max at his wedding; the use of a camcorder makes it more personal because it is showing a moment in time, recorded by a close friend. This is something that people can relate to because special occasions are often videoed. The scene ends with Max making a statement about love; I think this was used to capture a “true” image of his personality and again show how positive he was. The scene is a celebration of his life rather than a mourning of his death.