Evaluation Question 6

Evaluation Question 5

Evaluation Question 4

Evaluation Question 3

Evaluation Question 2

Evaluation Question 1

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

A: Genre

 

This video explains the genre.

Our chosen actors were chosen purposely and are a good representation of the social groups this film presents. The way they are dressed and their roles are typical for a superhero/action film taking as the closest example 'Kick-ass'

B: Narrative 

The idea for our opening sequence was that the main character Andy (shown walking out of his house in the sequence) is a victim of bullying. One day when he is repeating his daily he receives a text from his friend (at least he thinks its his friend). He then is walking to the place his friend asked him to meet at, but when he turns a corner he sees the bullies. Thinking they won't do nothing he walks towards them, but they don't let him pass through and ending their conversation with each other they push Andy around. Andy then runs away the other way and the bullies run after him. Its not long until Andy gets tired and the bullies catch up to him pushing him onto an electricity. When the electricity box explodes the bullies ran away thinking that Andy is dead. The next morning Andy wakes up and we can see an electric current twitching in his eye as he opens it, that's when we realize that Andy has gained powers. The rest of the film would be about Andy being a superhero, dealing with the change, facing the bullies and helping other people who have experienced bullying. Although the bullies have ruined Andy's life so many times in the past, this time they have saved it and gave him the courage to stand up for himself.

A classic narrative structure for most films follows a certain pattern which is referred to as a three-act structure. The three acts are as follows: set up, conflict and resolution. I think our film follows that narrative structure as at the beginning of the film we have main characters and the basic problem being introduced. Our film shows Andy being chased by bullies and then lying on the ground next day and suggesting he has gained powers is the basic situation in our film explaining the plot of our film. Then further into the film  would be our main conflict and disruption of the main characters life, so Andy will be going through a big change from a normal teenage boy to a superhero, he will be facing the bullies and protecting others. At the end the problem will be resolved, so there is going to be a battle between good and evil, and just like in every superhero film such as 'Spider-man' or 'Kick-ass' the good guy will win and in our case it's Andy. This will end the conflict. Our film has a typical narrative for a superhero film just like in Spider-man the superhero is dealing with evil, but in our case it's about bullying so more like 'Kick-ass' where the superhero fights the bad guys such as burglars and bullies. The film will end with a happy ending which is just like most films end not only of our genre. According to the myths of Northrop Trye our narrative is a Spring myth which is leading from a bad situation to a happy ending.

I think that the narrative in our opening sequence is quite clear. We have use specific narrative techniques such as ellipsis to cut out the part where Andy gets pushed onto an electricity box, instead we have used a fade and showed him waking up in the morning with an electric current in his eye suggesting that he has gained powers which is what we wanted to achieve. The fact that we didn't show everything that has happened allowed as to create enigma so that the audience have to wonder about what has just happened and this would make them want to watch the whole film. We didn't show how it lead to Andy laying on the ground, but we managed to create an electric current twitching in his eye when he opens it dramatically. Also we have created dramatic and emotional sound which supports our narrative and makes it more clearer to the audience as to what is happening in the film.

C: Form

An opening sequence has an important job to show all the important contributors of the motion picture production. They show all the main casts and major crew. Whereas the closing credits present all the extensive cast members, directors and producers. The typical order of the opening titles is: Name of Production Company, Director, Producer, Executive Producer, Main Actors and the Title. We have followed this pattern for most of our sequence however we put the names of the main actors at the beginning after the director and then after the actors the casting by and other contributors like  sound, photography, producer etc. We thought this would be more suitable our opening sequence because we wanted to have the main charactersname where he goes out of the house rather than when we is chased, so that the audience can establish who is the main character.                    

D: Style

The style of our film is supposed to make the audience pumped up with adrenaline wanting more and having to think while watching. It's supposed to be quite exciting and adventurous. We made it like that by creative a dramatic soundtrack for the opening to support the actions in the sequence. We used different shots such as close ups, POV, high angle and low angle as well as from the distance to make it seem like someone is watching Andy. We used a wide range of shots to show the characters from different angles and to establish the roles of the characters. The music in the opening builds tension so you can wonder if something terrible is going to happen next. The style of our titles is very basic and we thought that it would suit our opening best as it is quite simple and suits the setting (UK, Raynes Park) and the lighting. The logo of our production was made considering the theme of our theme, so it looks like electric waves. Then finally the name of the film 'Caution' we thought would look best with some electricity or something like that around it so we chose quite shock-ish style of this title. Most films create titles which suggest the genre and the theme of this particular film. For example in G.I. Joe the titles are on a cloudy green background with the title 'G.I. Joe' in big letters and the subtitle 'The rise of cobra' underneath in very tiny letters. This suggests this violent dramatic theme that is going on in the film. We used non-linear editing and we have used fade effect to make it seem like Andy wakes up the next day.

Institution Research

Sound

We've been looking at the type of sound we want to add to our opening sequence to suite the theme and the genre. After looking at different soundtracks used in action films we found that the sound needs too be dramatic making it seem like something is about to happen. In order to fit our genre, theme and the plot line we need the sound to be dramatic and continuous as we want the audience to feel very interested and curious in what is about to happen. Most of action films have sound at the beginning that fits the action in the film so if its a superhero/ action film then there is going to be an up beat sound suggesting that there is going to be a some attacking and flying or running. So in our opening sequence we need the sound to be the same speed/tempo as the action in the sequence.

Genre Research

Step Up 2 The Streets Opening and Title Sequance

In the title sequence we can see the production companies appear on the screen first. They appear on a plain black screen in white capitals. Then the film begins with what we can assume is a main character telling her story of how she began to dance. We can't see her as they only show a video of people dancing on the street and she is doing the over voice which matches the pieces of footage shown at the beginning. The footage is fast forwarded sometimes and we can hear people laughing a bit in the footage suggesting they're enjoying themselves just as the girl in the over voice is saying how much she thought the dancing was amazing and like from another planet and how much she wanted to be like them. After that short footage the name of the film appears with 'Step Up 2' written in a bold black font and 'the streets' written in a slightly smaller red font. At the end of the footage the girl in the over voice says that the streets have changed and then after the title the actual beginning of the film starts with cars driving past an then we're on the train. Then the camera zooms in on some people suggesting that they are a part of the film and that there is something about to happen. Then two guys start dancing on the train in masks and everyone looks a bit scared and then they make it look like they are infecting others and making them dance as well in the masks. When the train stops those people start to run away and then we find out that they are all a part of a dance crew and that it was just a part of a prank. I think that this a very good and very different way to start a film like that. The narrative is very clear and we can see it at the beginning by watching the footage and listening to the over voice. I also think that it is very interesting how they started the film showing the difference between how the dancing has developed and changed into something completely different and maybe a bit dangerous for some people.

Step Up Revolution Opening Sequence

In this opening sequence they highlight straight away the theme of the movie which is dance. They start it off by showing a dance scene and it clearly tells us that they are a crew. This is a very good way to start a film like that as it shows a clear narrative and show loads of different filming and editing techniques. We can see a tilt shot at the beginning meanwhile we can see the main actor talking in the car. Then the focus is on a girl who dramatically opens a suitcase with DJ equipment turning on the music. We can see everyone getting out of their cars stamping their feet and beginning to dance, then other people watching them and filming showing that they really like it and are very shocked by what they can do. It is filmed in a very good way as the camera is going backwards showing them jumping out of their cars. I think this opening sequence matches well the genre and the narrative of the film.

The Dark Knight Rises - OPENING TITLES HD

In this title sequence we can see that the production company is a big part of the film as it is show multiple times as the titles appear in a dramatic way highlighting the genre of the film. The titles appear on a dark background showing first the logos of the companies contributing in the production of the film which are: Warner Bros. Pictures, Legendary Pictures, DC Comics and Syncopy. There is music playing in the background to make the opening interesting and to suit the genre which is Action/Crime/Thriller. Then the titles appear on little labels written in black capitals showing all the production companies once again and then the directors and screenwriters. Then after that the title of the film is showed on a label in red capitals and after that all the main actors. There is smoke floating over the labels with titles on them and it seems like they're in water which kind of says that there is going to be a lot action in the movie and maybe some fighting.