Analysis of Existing Products: checkpoints

For the preparation of the making of the main task, I need to complete a wide variety of research in order to ensure that I am following and including all the features that are sought after and needed within the media text I plan to produce. This research will help me decide which genre to select when it comes to making my video, in contribution to how I will represent my characters, the setting I will select and what kind of shots I will aim to take.

To start of this planning, I have decided to run a textual analysis of an existing product, and in order to make sure I cover as much ground as possible when running this textual analysis, I have put a selection of points together in order to ensure that I complete the best analysis I possibly can.

Textual analysis?

To kick of my research in order to prepare for my final video product, I have decided to complete an analysis of the opening sequence of a popular existing product. My reasons for this are, by analysing other peoples work,  I can gather information on what works well with audience, and what doesn't work so well, in order to help me gather ideas in order to form a plan for my opening sequence. Also, by analysing the opening sequence of popular products of film, I should be able to get a good feel of things such as genre, narrative, characters and even script, around the way in which they are used within popular film products. Furthermore, breaking apart the ideas of other peoples work, should give me a good, in-depth understanding of the most effective use of mies-en-scene and shot types within film texts, and therefore help me with making my own film product as effective as possible with the limited time and resources provided.

I have decided that I would like to complete an in-depth analysis of around 3 opening-sequences of successful media products, and all three of these existing products are likely to be of a horror, or adventure genre. My reasons for this are that, typically, within myself, the media  products which I tend to consume the most are of the horror or adventure-fiction genre. Therefore, since I know the most about these genres, it just made sense to me that this would be the genre I would ideally like to base my main task on.

However, having said this,  I am aware that I have currently completed absolutely no research into genre, and therefore, before making any final decisions, I should ensure that I have completed at least 3 different types of research into genre, which ones are usually the most effective, and ideally, which ones will be easier to make an effective product of with the resources available to me.

Preliminary Exercise- Preparation

Due to the fact that I have chosen to do the video task over print for my coursework this year, there is a whole new vocabulary of key terms and methods which I need to learn in order to be able to produce a quality video product. Already, some of these un familiar terms/shots/rules have come up upon the outline for my Video Preliminary Exercise, and therefore, in order to ensure that I can accurately demonstrate what is asked for within my Video Preliminary Exercise, I have found the definitions of the terms which I was unfamiliar with and presented them on paper below: 

To help with the understanding of these new terms, I have found and watched a video which helps demonstrate the understanding of all three. You'll find the links to these videos below: 

Match on action: https://youtu.be/Mv93covb53w

Shot/reverse shot: https://youtu.be/nkmZaJxogI4

180-degree rule: https://youtu.be/HinUychY3sE

Action Plan

In order to make sure that I keep on top of my research and planning, and to ensure that every piece of research and planning I do for my main and preliminary task is not only relevant but helpful, I have made an action plan to follow in order to keep on top of my blog posts and to help me not fall behind. You'll find the action plan below: