1) In
what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and
conventions of real media products?
There are nine
conventions of an Opening Sequence that the majority of television companies
choose to follow. These include titles, extreme close ups, clues for the
audience, an establishing shot, an equilibrium (or a disequilibrium),
production/distribution logos, soundtrack, establishing the mood/theme and
something that prompts the audience to ask questions. These conventions are
used for various reasons. Titles are used to inform the audience of the actors
and actresses within the programme. The name of the programme is also often put
in using titles. Some examples of titles being used in real media texts are
present in Sixth Sense and Bridget Jones’ Diary. Extreme close ups are a vital convention of
Opening Sequences because they are ambiguous and make the audience ask
questions. This is because the shot is not allowing us to see anything else
apart from the one thing it is focusing on, therefore our natural instinct is
to wonder what is being hidden. An example of this in a real media text is seen
in Spiderwick Chronicles. Clues for the audience are also important because without
them, the audience wouldn’t be drawn to the programme and they would lose
interest before it even started. An example of this is seen in the Opening
Sequence of Brick. An establishing shot allows the audience to get an insight
into the location of the programme, even if they aren’t completely aware of it.
An example of this is seen in Wallander. An equilibrium or disequilibrium is
present in every Opening Sequence even if we don’t notice it, this is either something
good or something bad that happens to throw the audience off course and make
them again, want to carry on watching to find out what happens. An example of a
disequilibrium is seen in Memento. Production and distribution logos are
conventional because they are recognisable by the audience, for example if we
saw Nickelodeon as the distribution logo before a film, we would
stereotypically assume that it was a film with a child based target audience.
Production logos are used in Sixth Sense and Spiderwick Chronicles. Having a
soundtrack is also important because it helps to both build up tension and tell
the story of what is happening on screen. A good example of a soundtrack in a
real media text is present in Wallander as it builds tension in all the correct
places. Furthermore, establishing the mood/theme is something that needs to be
done as early on as the Opening Sequence because the genre of the film is
important to the audience. This is seen in Bridget Jones’ Diary automatically
due to the soundtrack, mise en scene, cinematography and editing. Finally,
prompting the audience to ask questions is important because some elements of
the programme should be kept secret in order to drag the audience in and keep
them watching from episode to episode. The audience is prompted to ask many
different questions in Sixth Sense because we are constantly wondering what is
going to happen next. So far, our group has used six out of nine of these conventions.
We have used extreme close ups of certain things such as the hand turning on
the tap and picking up the pair of glasses, however we need to add more of
these close ups to add to the idea of them being mysterious. We have used a
disequilibrium because the audience do not know anything about the man as of
yet, but they will assume that he is the antagonistic character because of the
way he acts around the young girl. We have also created clues that hint to the
audience when we see the situation with the park, and the man’s personality
previously. This is a stereotypical assumption but is still one that we
naturally make. A production logo has been added however we are yet to create
our own distribution logo. We have also established the mood/theme of the
programme to a certain extent because we could guess the genre from the Opening
Sequence. Finally, we have added in sections to prompt questions which are
always good when it comes to having a mysterious element because if there are
no questions to ask, there is nothing to be revealed.
This is an example of titles in our own Opening Sequence for these titles we had to think about the font, timings and placings.
This is an example of titles within Bridget Jones' diary which is a real media text.
This is an example of the disequilibrium in our Opening Sequence. A disequilibrium is where the event in the film starts off negative and is then solved.
This is an example of a disequilibrium in Memento, a real media text which I have previously analysed.
2) How
does your media product represent particular social groups?
In our Opening
Sequence, we have decided to challenge teenagers and young adults which hard
and sometimes traumatic upbringings/pasts, of which, these traumatic events
have caused them to make incorrect decisions in order for a stable and ‘bright’
future. We have chosen to represent this age/gender because it is near to our
age (and matches our genders) and will be easy to show correctly. The two main
characters in our Opening Sequence and therefore the rest of the programme are
the male (who is the young adult) and the female (who is an older teenager and
almost a young adult). We have incorporated stereotypical views into our work
by making the female the protagonist and making the male the antagonist. We are introduced to the male character before
we are introduced to the female character. The things that we see (and the
domesticity and everyday routine that is made prominent) allows us to make
assumptions about this man’s personality, however, the event that then goes on
to take place with the girl challenges this in a different way because in a
matter of seconds, we are no longer viewing him as having a ‘problem’ that is
affecting him physically, but now emotionally and mentally as well. Because we
decided to create an Opening Sequence that adhered with the Thriller genre, it
is expected that a storyline such as the one that we have created will take
place, however, we plan to challenge this later on and our use of Media Language
will show that. Furthermore, representations that we have already shown in our
work are very stereotypical and we want to change this, not much, but enough so
that we are not seen as ‘conventional’ of the genre.
