1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

“A Working Student” is 3.14 minutes long, this in itself challenges the conventions of a real short film, as is raises the immediate question of whether the narrative can be delivered and the story can be told in this time, and if this was a real media product I think that it would have had to have been longer for it to be taken seriously as a Short film; Although the definition of a short film is anything from 2- 45 minutes, if this were a real production it would have to be much longer so that the audience can connect with Amy, but for the purposes of this project I feel that “A Working Student” is an appropriate length, and that I have effectively delivered my narrative in this time frame.

Short films are becoming more and more popular with the advances of social networking sites and sites like youtube, the audience for short films is becoming larger and larger. People are looking for all sorts and people have become successful over night just by uploading their material online for other people to see and enjoy. Sites like youtube aren’t just for funny material anymore, alongside Vimeo, Blogger and many other means they are becoming the popular space for entrepreneurs to start their career and be noticed.

“A Working Student” addresses many current issues, such as student tuition fees, the debt, the cost of living, the lack of jobs, and the real life issue that people are turning to means of work such as prostitution, I have tried to incorporate humour into this, but there is also the silver lining effect where we say, at least she isn’t a prostitute! The fact is a lot of students will do anything for work, and even though Amy isn’t in this position it makes us spare a thought for the people who are, and reinforces the point that it isn’t an easy ride!

A lot of media material that is based on prostitution fit the stereotypes like for drugs or to pay the rent, like in films such as “Pretty Woman” we see one of the supporting roles, Kit, who has had to turn to prostitution just to make some money. Series such as “The Secret Diaries of a Call Girl” try to portray the glamorous side of prostitution or escorting, but in “A Working Student” we see the shame, and how she doesn’t want to do what she is doing, I have filmed it this way, as I want the audience to engage with the young girl on the screen and consider the difficulties a student goes through from day to day just trying to get by. This in itself challenges the usual conventions of a piece, as I have explained it raises issues of rising tuition fees, grant policies and the system itself.

Breaking the fourth wall is another tool I have used to help the audience attach to Amy, I have such a short space of time for the audience to get an insight into her life, I thought it would be effective for Amy to speak straight to her audience, almost like she is appealing to them, this is something that we see in many professional media products such as secret diaries of a call girl and sex and the city, these both have the same target audience that I am trying to attract which is why I have done this in this way.

I have tried to use shock tactics in my work to put a different spin on the audience’s opinion once they have sat and thought about it, to make them think, “Oh! She’s a litter picker; I thought she was a prostitute!” This is the main element of humour in “A Working Student”, The way I have filmed it is so that the audience have to figure it out for themselves, many short films portray this same sort of dark humour, such as “The Spider” and “Get Off My Land” as it is a good way of entertaining your audience in a short space of time.

I think the story of “A Working Student” itself doesn’t challenge the conventions of a regular media production, but the way I have chosen to deliver it definitely does raise issues that I have designed to make the audience think after they have received the punch line, I did this through the way I filmed and scripted my piece, and I think it effectively portrays the image and delivers the message that I intended.