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

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 1

THE TITLE OF THE FILM.

The title suits the thriller genre as it has sense of impending doom and danger. It uses the conventions of conventional thriller films, such as TAKEN, or DEPARTED. It is simple and has either one or two words, such as my own film name. It also challenges the conventions normal film openings as this title appears at the end of the opening scene-connoting that the storyline (if there was one) would’ve carried on from that point. Most film openings have their film name appear straight after the openings, however some do have their film names at end, such as this.

SETTING/LOCATION

There was 2 different locations where this opening scene was filmed at. The location above uses the conventions of thriller opening scenes in terms of location. The image shows the interrogation sequence which was filmed in my shed. I had purposely arranged the stuff in the shed to make it look like a run-down, make shift and cluttered room to show how crude and dangerous this scene is. It reflects how conventional thriller film opening scenes start in a dark room and how it contributes to the atmosphere of the scene. However in terms of the location in the storyline, it challenges the norms of film openings as a normal film opening would show how the turn of events first started-here it shows the opposite, with the antagonist and protagonist in the room in the present tense after the capturing of Jason.

COSTUMES & PROPS.The enigmatic character is wearing a hoody, but he is wearing the hood and concealing his face with a scarf, to look mysterious. This again uses the conventions of film openings as film openings normally have a mystery or an element that makes the audience question the course of the scene.This reflects the normal film openings, across all, if not most, genres as even in a rom-com for example, there will be a hint of subtle mystery that is essential when engaging the audience so that they continue watching to find out more. However this character and his costume doesn’t appear in the present tense, but in the flashbacks, which, along with the style of the attire, heightens the mystery element.

CAMERAWORK AND EDITING

The camerawork and editing in this opening scene uses the conventions of real opening scenes. There are various shot types and movements, but I have picked out the image above that I feel is the most significant one that stand out. The image really does relate to normal film openings as it a (extreme) close up, to establish the characters facial expression and mood, which sets the mood for the audience too when they first see the scene.

TITLE FONT AND STYLE

The font I had used for the opening is Impact (impact) and the reason for this is because it is solid and bold. Looking back at my name ideas, it describes how a solid and bold font symbolises a barrier. In this case, the barrier that Jason has to face is the agent. It develops the conventions of normal film openings, depending on the genre. In the thriller genre, bold and huge lettering are common It is simple but effective. The colour scheme is white and red. The white is there for simplicity and for a ghastly effect, as well as contrasting the dark, desaturated lighting in the start. The red connotes the blood (on Jason’s face) and overall shows the audience that there is an element of danger. The colour therefore develops the conventions of normal film openings as they normally contrast with the lighting effect of the shot, but with the input of colour such as the red, will alter the conventions of titles in opening scenes.

STORY AND HOW THE OPENING IS SET UP

The storyline is sort of between in terms of whether or not is challenges or uses the conventions of opening scenes. Again it heavily depends on the genre. This, being a thriller opening scene, would be more of a development of conventional opening scenes, as it depicts how Jason ends up in the torture room, and the audience are informed of his presence through a series of random flashbacks. Normal film openings would’ve started with the process of how the person ended up where he/she is in now, whereas this opening scene shows the reverse. However it isn’t unusual to see this style of opening scenes-many films do what I have done.

GENRE AND HOW THE OPENING SUGGESTS IT

As the genre was thriller, It was essential to add mystery, and enigma, weapons and blood! The opening starts with the agent walking towards Jason through a bright light, and then we see Jason tied up to a chair with blood on his face. There are numerous flashback with an enigma, and the audience should question his purpose in the scene. I would say this opening scene supports the conventions of film openings (thrillers in particular), as normally all opening scenes across all genres have some element of mystery, but thrillers strive on mystery especially. Flashbacks are also a key aspect in thriller opening scenes which add to the mystery. Other aspects which contribute to the conventions of thriller film openings are the use of weapons such as the gun and knife like the image above shows.

HOW CHARACTERS ARE INTRODUCED

There are 3 characters in this film opening. We first are introduced to the agent as he walks past the light. He looks extremely sinister in that shot, and the height of the angle suggests he has upmost superiority over Jason. This challenges the convention of opening scenes as the first character that is normally shown is mainly the protagonist, whereas here it is the antagonist that is shown first. We next see Jason, who is half-awake, groggy and bloody (the shot above). He is the victim, and this uses the conventions of opening scenes as the characters who are the most vulnerable or who already are the victims, are shown in a similar way as to this. The enigmatic character in the flashbacks are shown only in the past tense in flashbacks, and is shown to us as a mystery, which develops the conventions of opening films, as they normally appear in film openings, but in the present tense, but challenges the conventions as here he is seen only in flashbacks.

SPECIAL EFFECTS

The special effects in this sequence is essential to make it look professional. I had put the special effects in the editing stage on Adobe PremierPro. Without it, it wouldn’t have made certain parts in this film opening obvious, e.g. the flashbacks wouldn’t seem like flashbacks if it wasn’t for the effect of using black & white edits. The shot above is supposed to be a POV shot of Jason on the floor, looking up at the agent after being punched by him. The shot is purposely blurred to show how Jason’s vision will be distorted due to the attack. It makes it more believable and realistic, and combined with the ear-ringing sound, it really does look like the audience is Jason; we are looking through Jason’s eyes. This challenges the conventions of opening scenes, as special effects aren’t really used in the first scene of a film, let alone used in this way of making a POV shot look more like the characters perspective.