Evaluation of Use of Genre Conventions

Evaluate how your product used, developed or challenged the forms and conventions of real media products

Predictions:

• ·         Audience thought there was a twist in the film which would be correct

• ·         Predictions are easily made because of the establishing of basic situation

•  ·         Which is in keeping with our genre, as heist films follow a formula – it is the exact nature of the twist which is difficult to predict

1. Title

• ·         Striking title against a black background, has a contrast  and almost 70s feel
• ·         In keeping with the genre as film openings often reveal the title only 
• ·         Cards tie in with themes of gambling + being deceived

2. Credits

• ·         Same colour as title orange and for main characters appear next to them as they are freeze framed - common device for heist films, seen in e.g. "Lock, Stock" and "Hustle".
• Other credits  are put in over the action again the same colour – less obtrusive and don’t distract from the action but still distinctive
• They needed to stand out as they had to bring some interest in the opening sequence and some are there longer than others as to be remembered more

3 & 4 Characters 

 

• ·       The characters we have put in our piece represent the stereotypical roles that are generally related to our genre
• ·         Main characters are mainly males and one woman - heist genre traditionally male-dominated
• ·         Our characters are younger than would be used in a film close to ours but we feel it works well to refresh the genre and create new situations which are possibly less serious
• ·         Our hacker was cast as a direct opposite of the other characters (no suit, different overall style) showing some variety and also tends to conform to heist conventions of having very distinctive characters in the gang with clear roles and areas of expertise.
• ·         As in other heist films we used men to fulfill most of the narrative roles and also typical woman’s roles i.e. damsel in distress.
•         The women though are used in unconventional roles as they are involved in the actual action and are not just waiting to be saved etc - becoming more common in the genre and we wanted to continue this.
• ·         The main characters were not all as would be found in real media products as they are not all the polished characters that we normally see, but this works with the age of our cast

5 & 6 Mise-en-scene

• ·         The women are dressed casually in this piece compared with the men in suits and also the hacker wearing casual clothes which is a contrast
• ·         The location of the poker scene was different to that of other media interpretations as it was brighter and bare.
• ·         Make up was not used as characters are young and fresh which is how we wanted them to come across although not too young, more 20’s than teenage.
• ·         Wanted the kidnap scene to look like someone’s shed/basement so we used someone’s to give it authenticity
• ·         The delivery person was dressed very simply as they normally dress but no logo, like some pieces could have chose
• ·         Use of iconography like playing cards help to create genre feel where gambling and sleight of hand important elements

7, 8 and 9 Camera Work

• ·         Our use of extreme close up is there to add mystery and show emotions in situations i.e. surprise, our last shot with the extreme close up of the eyes it helped us to add in a connection with the characters without showing too much of what they looked like.
• ·         We also had a few POV shots showing what the characters were seeing as if you were in their position, which gives you a limited perspective/ knowledge typical of the genre
• ·         Also had some low angle shots to add interest around a scene and to make the characters seem bigger than normally are.
• ·         We had over the shoulder shots with some conversations and also to show what was in the package delivered, it is used a lot in every film opening to keep interest and also show emotion when receiving news
• ·         We had low angle shots to show vulnerability for example in the hostage scene which had a good effect
• ·         We also had long shots to show and entire area and to include the scenery, gives the scenes some authenticity as it could be as you would view the scene if you were there - again more common of form (film opening) than directly related to genre.
• ·         We also had some panning shots when the poker happened around the table moving from face to face, showing each character in turn, and showing they are important characters.

10 Editing

• ·         In editing we used freeze frames to capture the faces of the important characters and to put their actor’s names over the top this pointed out the characters to watch and also allowed a base for some of the credits, this is used in other media products like ‘Hustle’ so it follows the conventions of well known products in the genre.
• ·         We also had a few wipe transitions to change location/focus which can be seen in films like ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ to move from one scene to the other and create a sense of different plots in different places in post production

11 Sound

• ·         We also added in enhanced ambient sound like doors slamming and removed wild sound. Sound added in in post production is common in films like this as certain sounds cannot always be heard or have the desired effect.
• ·         We also added in appropriate non-diegetic music that was repetitive but went with the story line and had no lyrics to distract from the speaking underneath (diegetic sound) much like the music used in heist films to keep energy in the scene
• ·         We have some dialogue in our piece but very few bits most important bits at the end and the beginning, not giving too much away.