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

Title of the film

This is the opening title that we used in the opening minutes of our film, Paradox Entertainment produce a lot of action films/interrogation films, so we thought that overall, this film industry was right for our film. We also used this film industry as it distribute a wide-ranging slate of some 15-22 films each year, making this film industry very popular. We made the joint decision of choosing these opening titles as it is also effective and gives it the action feeling towards the audience. Overall, whilst using this opening titles sequence, we found that it was right for our film and that it portrayed its way on being effective towards the audience

The title of the film is ‘Swan Song’. We chose this name because Swan Song means Wander, so this would give the audience an insight of the film that something unexpected will happen that the audience have not seen in another film. The title of the film matches the film genre which is action/thriller. This matches the genre because thriller films are known to be a bit mysterious and unexpected so by the title being Swan Song which means wander, this would make the audience want to watch the film to see what happens.

Title font and style
For the title of the film ‘Swan Song’ we used the font ‘MS Gothic’.

We used this because we wanted the title to stand out to the audience and we wanted it to link with the film storyline and genre decided to put it in capitals because majority of the film titles are in capitals which makes it stand out more and makes more of an impression. We decided to keep the background black and the text white. We did this because we found that simple is more effective and you would be able to see the title of the film more clearly. Initially, when choosing the font we decided ‘Diamond SF’. We thought this would have linked with our genre more as it looks more dangerous and casual and links more with thriller. However, we did not use this as we found that our storyline was not the same so the font style would not match. Also, I found that it did not give the opening sequence a thriller effect as it looked unprofessional.

Setting/Location

Our storyline began with a car driving towards the camera, towards the school, so it made sense for the location to be set in school. We decided to set the beginning of the opening outside of the school building. This is a different location because unlike other groups they are not based near school so this is different and not like a typical action/thriller location. Also, this links with our target audience because our target audience is 15 and up so the target audience is in education and relate to this location. 

 

We used this location because the school is very spacious so if something was to happen you could get away with it. Also, there are many classes and rooms to hide in which would be beneficial for the protagonist. We thought that Therfield School would be more enigmatic which links with our title and genre. This also relates to our target audience as majority of our audience go to school still . This way our audience can relate themselves to the location.

We used a classroom because the antagonist was learning and the protagonist came to take his revenge on him, in a way, the antagonist was in the classroom to hide somewhere, it was quite empty and not used as much so this would fit the storyline as the protagonist is acknowledged by where the antagonist is. Also, we tried making the classroom darker which indicated that something dangerous could happen. Just like most thriller and action films, majority of the action is at night such as; James Bond and Bourne Ultimatum. Even though brightness is shining through the blinds, we tried to make it quite dark with some lights rays going in, to make it more attractive.

Costumes and Props
The costumes and Props were used quite simply in our opening two minutes. The protagonist, uses very casual clothes, just like anyone would wear on a day to day basis. Comparing to the Bourne series, who wears normal closes to blend in with people. Ross Grove is wearing a body warmer and a jumper underneath, jeans and uses a pistol. A small weapon just like any Protagonist would use to get around enemies and kill the antagonist with skill and knowledge.

The guards are wearing smart, predictable guard clothes, Muhammed, wearing black trousers, white shirt and a smart jumper. Zubin is wearing a blazer and smart trousers, both wearing smart clothes and representing the 'college' the protagonist is going to smartly. Usually, they typically work in plainclothes (without a uniform), and are usually highly trained to act lawfully in direct defense of life or property.

The Antagonist wore conventional student attire, a smart shirt and chino trousers, Aran had a bag, which makes him the conventional student. Aran isn't wearing a hat, and his clothes do not include any messages on clothing, jewellery, and personal belongings that relate to drugs, alcohol, tobacco, sex, vulgarity, or that reflects adversely upon persons because of their race or ethnic group.

Camerawork and editing

Our opening two minutes include a range of different shots such as; medium shot, close up, extreme close up, over the shoulder shot, medium long shot etc. We used a variety of shots because in many films they include a variety of shots to make the film more interesting and to keep the audience interested in the film so they do not lose interest. When editing I had to make sure the match on action was accurate in each shot, for example; when Grove(protagonist) is tripped up by the guard and falls, you then see him fall the same way so it matches. If it did not match then it would look very poor and the audience would not want to watch it. Also, I added effects to some of the shots so the mise-en-scene matches the genre.

This shot was very effective in the opening two minutes of our film and this gave the audience the effect of danger and due to the sort of creepy stare on the antagonist's (Baker) face, shows that danger, violence or a diabolical scheme will occur to the protagonist (Grove). This shot, being a close up of the face of the Antagonist and only focuses on him, giving the audience a scared/nervous effect, which was intended, this also allows the audience to focus on Aran’s facial expressions, with the faint stare and the stare on his face, gives the element of surprise awaiting for the protagonist.

Genre and how the opening suggests it

The Genre of the film was action/thriller which inevitably led to us having to include a fight scene. Films of my film genre don't usually include fight scenes in the opening two minutes, but we decided to use one in the opening two minutes to help link to the films plot and portray the film as the film is based around Grove (myself) being a a good guy targeting specific people on assignments. But we also decided to use the fight scene to meet common action/thriller film clichés like  have high levels of suspense, thrill action etc. and all action films at some point feature fights and conflicts and high levels of drama so it helps make my opening two minutes conventional.

Examples of action films with many fight scenes to name a few are the transporter, Dark Knight Rises, Bourne Series, Rush Hour series. Because there are so many action films that have focused on their stand-out fight scenes in recent years shows that they are necessary and an important part of action films genre conventions. The fact that we involved a fight scene in the opening shows that to an extent my opening two minute is conventional for the chosen genre as it features the common clichés associated with actions films. 

 

Story and how the opening sets it up

The story of the film is about an Ex-Prison Warden Ross Grove is on the loose and dangerous. Armed with a gun, he heads to the local school to seek vengeance. James Baker, innocently studying in his Geography lesson is about get a small surprise. He has trouble getting to Baker, having to fight through numbers of undercover guards. Baker is desperately looking for options. Time is running out and he runs. The chase is on. They are hastily navigating the school when Grove gives up. As he walks away, Baker grabs one of the fallen guards guns and attempts to take Grove out but he sees it coming dodges it and ends Baker.

Special Effects

We didn't actually use any special effects. We were planning to add fire to the guns, but decided it wouldn't look real, only too graphic and imagery. We added noises to the gunshots. Which worked out quite well I thought.

How the characters are introduced

The introduction of characters The protagonist in this film(the main character of whom I play) is given much prevalence in the opening two minutes and the only character that is really introduced in the opening two minutes.  To help illustrate this to the audience, we've purposely used a lot of screen time towards my character using various different camera shots like high low-angle shots, ECU; close up, long shots etc. in order to show that he's the dominant, main character in this film. He's first introduced as soon as he steps out of the car, then walks into the school and takes out the guards, in which he consequently kills his target, "job done". His introduction at the beginning of the film is the typical perception and concept of what my character is like in terms of personality and role he has for the synopsis and the film itself.

His introduction is fairly conventional of action/thriller films, as it's quite common for films of my film genre to introduce main characters in a stand out and bold way within the opening scene. For example, In the James Bond movies, James Bond is introduced similarly to the way that my character is introduced in terms of initial impressions from the audiences perspective, as he is the catalyst in killing the bad guy(antagonist).