Evaluation Question 1

"In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge conventions of conventional films?"

Conventions are used a lot in films. They are the used in the way the character looks, the narrative, the setting, the genre conventions. Conventions often stick to the stereotypes of film but these stereotypes are the sort of things we would expect to see, but not what we want to see. For example, men being the main characters of action films, rather than women.

The genre my film fits in to is Action. Here are some conventions you would find for Action:

• Fast, expensive cars
• Expensive technology/equipment
• 'Goodies' and 'Baddies'
• Mass destruction
• Fighting
• Explosions and crashes
• Cat and mouse chases
• Big city - modern
• Weapons - knives, guns

My film opening uses the conventions of the action genre to attract the mainstream target audience. The camera work was edited in premier pro to recreate the quick cutting of the scenes to display the fast movement that the intense fight scenes of action move at. My media production follows with the action genre by using a setting of an abandoned gravel building, in which the car stunts can be executed without fail due to the reduced grip surface. I also use a wooded are for the scene where my character is being chased, this is so that there appears to be an urgency to get away and stay hidden through the dense surroundings. 

Developing conventions are a lot more difficult. It is a process that involves adapting an already existing convention, and pushing its boundaries, which requires a new way of thinking, as you will need to come up with an idea that is less usual, but still conventional to the genre. My production uses the conventional settings of an action movie, however adapts it to a daytime opening, whereas most productions will have the scene shot at night, where the mood is more eary and allowing the darkness to suppress the spreading of the chaos. If it's shot in broad daylight, it leaves you to half expect the continuation of the chaos bursting into the scene that follows.I have to be honest in that, I don't feel my production develops any further conventions, other than that already stated.

On the other hand, my production challenges the conventions expected of it. Most action genre films are based around some sort of male lead, being handsome, a bachelor or family man, who is devoted to his job. Immediately, we see that the first challenge to conventions is that my lead is, in fact, a female. Rather than the conventions of a woman being portrayed as the 'damsel in distress' or the 'seductress', my production shows the female in a new light. One that involves a past paced life style, filled with danger and daylight shoot outs. According to a 'conventional film', it should typically start at the beginning, then include the middle, and finish with an ending conclusion. Another way that my production challenges the conventions is that it jumps both feet first, straight in to the expected genre, dragging the audience with it. This is a useful way of challenging the conventions, as it automatically hooks the viewer in, they may be flicking through channels and decide to give the film a chance, and so if it goes straight in to what they are wanting, they aren't likely to get bored before the film gets a chance. However, there is a possibility that the film may 'give up the goods' too soon, leaving the viewers with not enough to expect to keep them hooked. So being sure to balance the dosage of the genre that is revealed so soon in, is a key part to master.