Evaluation Question 1 (Film Conventions)

Evaluation Question 1: How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?

Transcript:

Jack - Blue // Mariam - Red

Conventions are vital components of a film and the choices we make in following or challenging them determine whether we make or break our product. Conventions are the sometimes unwritten rules which make a certain genre distinct and recognisable to audiences. One simple or slight variation in any tropes or conventions could drastically alter the mood conveyed to the audience or send the wrong message, which may turn out in your favour as in the case of an unscripted Joker scene from The Dark Knight which subverts general film conventions of sticking to the script. Zoolander had an unscripted scene regarding the lack of intelligence of male models which challenges gender stereotypes such as the ‘dumb female model’. However sometimes making the wrong choice regarding film conventions can also be disastrous.

Conventions establish the genre to the viewer; it is a form of communicating your product without explicitly stating the genre of your film opening. This means that if audience members have trouble identifying the film opening’s genre or the message conveyed is generally too vague, not a lot of conventions are addressed. This can be a problem as nothing captures the audience’s attention or connects them to the product. Therefore we are aware of the importance of conventions in ‘showing and not telling’. Our product challenges some conventions and ascribes to some based on how certain tropes convey meanings. In terms of editing, the film opening uses film conventions extensively; the post-apocalyptic action genre is identified through the use of quick, abrupt cuts preceded by a significantly longer take for the ‘establishing’ shot. 

Our film challenges conventions such as the mixture of ethnicities in our cast and the different genders. One of our main actors was a girl which challenges sexism as she was holding a Katana and was doing things just as violent as the boys. Since femininity is stereotypically associated with peace, weakness and delicateness the way our female character is represented is in direct opposition to traditional gender roles. However, our male characters are fairly stereotypical in the way they are represented; violent and driven. This is further emphasised through the use of props that have implications of bloodshed and violence, such as katanas, snipers, grenade launchers, and so on.

Colouring was also somewhat conventional as post-apocalyptic action movies often use high-key lighting along with a vibrant saturated colour palette to convey a sense of dynamic energy, although it can be argued that the vivacious colouring challenges post-apocalyptic conventions as it is also common for movies in the genre to use low-key, cool-toned colours to establish a grim, somber mood and indicate a sense of foreboding danger. Danger is also often associated with nighttime due to this reason; people are afraid of what they can't see. In this sense, our opening challenges colouring conventions in the post-apocalyptic genre because it takes place in broad daylight.

Other components of mise-en-scene have been considered in detail, especially props. Since our film opening has no dialogue and few close-up shots, NVC is lacking. The focus of our film opening was not to establish a character-viewer relationship but rather stimulate the audience member visually, which was accomplished predominantly through the mise-en-scene. In order to compensate for the lack of NVC, we placed a heavy emphasis on props as a way to switch the focus to visual imagery. Props such as heavy vehicles are distinguishably used in our film opening. The focus on visual components through the heavy use of props is rather conventional for an action movie. However post-apocalyptic movies often tend to have a deeper insight into the main character(s) by developing a complex backstory to allow the audience to sympathise with them; our film opening averts this convention. The focus of our film opening was not to establish a character-viewer relationship but rather stimulate the audience member visually, which was accomplished predominantly through the mise-en-scene. In order to compensate for the lack of NVC, we placed a heavy emphasis on props as a way to switch the focus to visual imagery.

Sound is particularly conventional due to copyright issues and lack of original music. We had to resort to royalty-free music which is usually generic and lackluster, however after thoroughly exploring several websites we used some soundtrack clips that are more unique and interesting in our respective opinions. Taking into account that a film’s soundtrack can be used to convey mood and drive action, we opted for a fast-paced score to build up suspense and stimulate the listener in compliance with action movie soundtrack conventions. Since our film opening is action-oriented, we believe that any diegetic and/or non-diegetic music should convey the same meaning. Diegetic sounds such as the katana wielding sound were produced using royalty free soundtracks we found online. Non-diegetic sounds such as the score were also found the same way. This challenges major film conventions as they often make their own soundtracks or use foley sound effects for diegetic sounds. However, since we were on a budget and a limited amount of resources, we were unable to do so. Ambient sounds like the desert breeze and engines whirring were our own, however.

In terms of narrative, our film opening is fairly conventional in terms of the plot stages. The film opening starts with an equilibrium stage when the establishing shot shows a vast and empty desert landscape. A disruption is quickly introduced when several characters are shown quickly driving by in quadbikes. The pace of this transition heightens the tension. We are then shown the opposing forces; it is clear who is on who’s side. It seems, however, that the recognition stage comes hand in hand with the disruption stage as the characters are aware that they are being followed. The attempt to restore also is immediately apparent to the viewer from this scene. This challenges film conventions in the sense that all stages are usually clearly delineated with some time divided between each stage. Due to this being a film opening, there is no resolution but rather a cliffhanger so as to entice the viewers to watch more of the product.

Finally, camera work makes up a vital component of film conventions. A variety of shots were used in our film opening, including establishing shots, close-ups, medium-close-ups, long shots, low-angle shots, high-angle shots, point-of-view shots, over-the-shoulder shots, with a range of movements such as hand-held/pan shots. In this sense we follow the conventions of more contemporary post-apocalyptic action movies, Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) being our primary source of inspiration. The hand-held element is particularly modern, often found within the found-footage subgenre of horror. This is also noted in some action movies. The shaky, unstable quality denotes to the viewer an erratic atmosphere, usually to symbolise a certain character’s dread or fear.

The focus of our film opening was not to establish a character-viewer relationship but rather stimulate the audience member visually, which was accomplished predominantly through the mise-en-scene. In order to compensate for the lack of NVC, we placed a heavy emphasis on props as a way to switch the focus to visual imagery.

Video:

This video was filmed and edited by me.