Pre Production Tasks: Secondary Research - Similar Products

You will need to carry out both PRIMARY and SECONDARY research. In terms of secondary research:

1. Analyse a variety of related media texts
2. Use a variety of sources i.e. websites, journals
3. Cite research sources accurately i.e. name and dates of websites accessed

RESEARCHING AND ANALYSING SIMILAR PRODUCTS

 

It is crucial that you research at least 2 media products that you can use for comparative purposes. It is not good enough to simply outline the names of these products. For each product, STORYBOARD at least 20 – 30 shots.

You must ANALYSE the products in terms of media language:

• Camera shot and angles; CU, MS, LS, etc. / low, high, canted/dutch

• Camera movement; how is the camera being used (Pan, Tilt, Tracking, Crane) and what meanings are being produced?

• Framing & Composition – where are objects, characters and other important elements placed within the frame; how does this create meaning?

• Mise en scene; any particularly striking or interesting use of colour, props, costumes, locations/settings etc.

• Sound; diegetic and non diegetic uses of sound, music, sound effects, dialogue – what is the emotional effect on the spectator?

• Editing; types of edits – cuts, dissolves, fades, any other notable editing techniques; how are all these being used to create meaning and generate an emotional response in the spectator?

In addition to the checklist, try and also CONSIDER the key concepts:

• Institutions; can you identify a recognisable institutional ident - this will tend to be the case with products made by major media companies

• Genre; use of conventions – is it formulaic or different?

• Representation; consider gender, race, class, etc.

• Audience; who is the target audience? What tells you this?

• Ideology & Values; what are the key ideas that underpin the narrative?

• Narrative; is their a story being conveyed, if so, what is it and how effective is it in communicating ideas?