and convention of media products?
Boxing films tend to follow strict elements that a common in almost all boxing films.
The use of boxing memorabilia was present by using a functioning boxing gym, emphasising boxing gloves and equipment used in a cliché training scene.
Boxing films always have some form of emotional conflict with the main character, his environment or his opponent, represented through certain actions. Media involvement always makes appearances since boxing is a national sport, done through a small press conference.
The characters usually comes from a humbling background which is done in character clothes and have events appear very low quality compared by international sports leagues. These conferences would always end in conflict either verbally as in Ali or physically as in Rocky, which is achieved through a stand off.
However conventions of boxing films dictate to usually start with a boxing match or training but by using Fighting as influence it was decided to begin with a press conference to set the mood of the characters so they can be expanded on through flashbacks.
The title sequences are usually simple ones that usually appear after 1st 5 minutes of film and consist of the title in a bright colour on a black background that was done at beginning.
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our product uses contemporary methods to present the different genders, ages and social groups in a manner they can be indentified easily by our target audience, boxing fans and or Barnsley locals. Like most boxing film men always appear to be the most numerous or dominant gender with age displayed as the voice of reason and experience.
Coach Howard, the aging boxing trainer, identifies with Mike on a personal level while still appearing as his superior through instructions given throughout film. Gender plays a lesser role since few females are featured except the female journalist which indicates a somewhat equal society.
Social classes represented are mostly working class wearing simple, modest clothes with Coach Howard appearing the aged member by wearing old cardigans and hats with worn out shoes.
Barnsley locals who are mostly working class will appreciate a story about a local boy working his way up and achieving something since it’s something that wasn’t given it had to be earned.
3. What kind of media institutes might distribute your media product and why?
Low budget films like this are very rarely taken up by Hollywood studios since their stories are more personal and the quality tends to be lacking in terms of visuals and the actors used, who will mostly consist of up and coming actors.
It would be a straight to DVD release taken up by distributors like : Channel 4, Film 4 or Optimum, and use below the line marketing to cut costs by advertising on the internet, word of mouth and viral marketing. However posters and local radio broadcasts would be used to advertise it around the area it was set i.e. Barnsley.
It would be released in this way to save unnecessary costs since it will mostly only appeal to a British audience and the areas it would be advertised publically would be Barnsley since it’s the films setting location.
While it does advertise franchises such as Everlast and Atari it has little merchandising potentials since it a low budget independent film set in Yorkshire. It’s almost a cliché for most British films to not be involved in merchandising their films aside from the occasional T-shirt logo.
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
Primarily the target audience would be males from the ages of 15 – 35 years of age since the film has been assigned a 15 rating because of its profanity and crime affiliation.
http://www.bbfc.co.uk/recent/films
Females are a possibility with the release of Million Dollar Baby, the story of a female boxer, however that’s audience were mostly males who had an interest in boxing, drama and biographies.
Boxing fans would welcome a break from the traditional genre which strives to emphasis a boxer’s global stardom whereas our product is a lot smaller than that making it a lot more personal since you can identify with the protagonist in his struggles just to rise to a county league, it describes a boxers struggle through another stage in their career which most boxing film do not, usually they show them at the bottom and receive a sudden quick ticket to the top or they are already fairly established before the film starts.
People who love and under dog would also appreciate it since the main character is very identifiable in that he has faults, some serious faults, yet he’s able to rise above them in order to better himself.
Boxing films like Rocky, Fighting and even 8 Mile are similar in that they create an under dog character and also indicate they come from the low end of the social class scale but are still able to progress and better themselves. People who like these films are usually biography fans who like to see the story of a persons life unfold on the screen but they also expect the character to suffer and struggle to get to the top making the victory all the better because of it.
5. How did you attract / address your audience
Ages 15 – 35 years was estimated our target audience due to emerging patterns related to boxing type films. Our film would begin losing audience members after 35 due to the use of young upcoming actors which would be unidentifiable to older generations who are more attracted to film which include a familiar face.
The inclusion of an authoritative female in the conference scene would appeal to a female audience since there is clearly a woman involved who, surrounded by men, still holds a position of authority similar to them.
However the antagonist appearing Russian could antagonise certain foreign element to view this film in less favour, and vice versa for the protagonist who being from the area we intend to market, Barnsley, would rally the local community to support a film set around their area that shows it in a good light.
The cinematography of the film would effect certain audiences, the suspense scene where characters stare menacingly at each other would attract action fans and the point of view shots putting people in the shoes of Mike and Coach would allow them to see through their eyes and how intimidating their position is, trying to redeem themselves for past offenses against a sceptical reception, a majour selling point for biographical fans.
6. What have you learnt about technology from the process of construction the product?
The equipment used performed well to the task despite the 1st corridor scene being lost due to a faulty camera, which was remedied by re-filming it later that day. Digital video and photography cameras are useful for their compact size for easy transport and the title written on the button makes them easy to use with any instruction manual.
HD cameras, usually reserved for A2 students, proved a lot more difficult and we had to ask our tutor for advice on how to set it up, work it and place it but it proved to be an easy problem to fix and worked better than the compact camera but it wasn’t as small and thus would have been impossible to film the gym scene with it.
Problems faced were small regarding equipment, the cameras both video and photograph work well, despite the 1st scene. The HD camera’s intimidating size proved to hide a wondrous machine that is easy to use and proved to enhance to film in both quality and sound. Its size didn’t make any difference since the scene took place in a wide open hall.
The final cut pro software proved very challenging to operate but with the tutors help we could create what we thought a difficult sounds effect, heart beating, and the title sequence proved a lot very simple to create.
7. Looking back to you preliminary task, what do you feel that you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Planning and researching the film proved difficult due to conflicting schedules and group disagreements but eventually problems got solved and the work was made easier. The detailed planning of where and when to film helped so that it was all filmed on time for editing and the research helped create an easy flow to the filming when including props, dialogue, sound, characters and cinematography.
Shot techniques have improved though creating effects and using the space effectively to create the best shot for editing. Also we were sure to film each scene twice and gather a lot of footage encase of emergencies.
My confidence in working with the equipment has increased thanks to performing actions myself and receiving help from tutor, though working with the group was difficult it did come together in the end.
The end product I feel turned out well despite all the technical and personal problems in the group, if given more time the only thing that would be changed would be including in the training scene more boxing memorabilia i.e. skipping rope or jogging etc.
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