Possible Choices For a Digital Media Artefact

As part of our context of practice module, We have been set the task of producing an agreed media article. Because we have only 3 weeks to complete the task, it has been suggested that we base it on the essay we have just produce so that our artifact will already be backed up by evidence. After a discussion with my tutor and others who completed the same essay titled, there are a few approaches that could be taken in order to respond to our research.


The essay title I chose "Is the tradition of the director as Auteur in film-making coming to an end. Is there room for individual style within modern film making?" suggests that perhaps Hollywood has reached a stage where almost every new film follows the generic conventions of a certain genre. One of the suggestions was that we cut together film clips which follow these stereotypical conventions, and edit them together into one cliché movie trailer. By doing this, considering the piece of media gels together seamlessly, we will have established that many Hollywood movies lack individual style and become virtually non-distinguishable. A strong example of this would be 'Movie: The Movie.' This spoof trailer comically exploits all of the predictable Hollywood plot lines resulting in one ridiculous spectacle. Interestingly, the spoof trailer also emphasizes the use of big name Hollywood actors, who play cameo roles in the short feature. I believe that this is satirizing the fact that high budget films exploit big name actors to draw in audiences, the actually quality of the film's content often not even playing a factor in the box office success of the movie:

This Tongue-in-cheek trailer could then be compared to a trailer created by a modern day visionary director. If the contrast is prominent, perhaps this idea that we still have creative film despite all of the throwaway Hollywood content we see in modern film will be conveyed.


Another idea I had in relation to my essay was to create a hopefully edgy, intentionally historically inaccurate short film. In my essay I quoted Lewis J. who wrote that an Auteur's work is seen as expressive, therefore any inaccuracies are accepted or viewed as intentional. Shane Meadows' 'Once Upon a Time in the Midlands,' is supposed to reflect the style of Sergio Leone's western films set against a modern backdrop. I could take this idea even further. Tarantino's 'Reservoir Dogs' is said to heavily quote the 1987 film 'City on Fire.' Many of the key plot points and even shot compositions are said to clearly reflect the original film. Perhaps I could take this approach to the extreme, and quote an existing film shot for shot. By doing this, I will be aiming to utilize a traditional stylistic approach against a modern-day setting, whilst also demonstrating how an effective piece of media can spawn form a completely un-original idea. It could be argued that this recycling of conventions and plot lines present in Hollywood is threatening the need for individual flare in modern cinema.