In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The title of my film.
The title of my film is 'Hidden'. We decide to go for a short and punchy title to reflect our opening sequence. Today films are increasingly having these types of names for e.g. 'Taken' this seems to be becoming a trend and we thought that this would be fitting for our film as it is easy to remember and its an intriguing title which makes the audience ask questions and provokes their thought and attention.
Setting/Location.
For the setting of the opening sequence we chose a forest location because this suits our scenario. This develops modern codes and conventions because in modern films forests are usually good places to hide and run off to and because of the geography and features they enhance the suspense of a situation as there are many places of hiding and surprise. we thought this would fit very nicely with the idea we were going for, it is also a very secluded remote area and a perfect place to use guns so this is another contributing factor for location.
Costumes and props.
For costumes and props we decided to use existing media conventions because the audience are used to it and they would connect more with the familiarity of army uniforms and guns as in today's society we are used to these things. In every war film soldiers all wear the same types of uniforms and carry guns and we wanted to make our sequence as realistic as possible so this is why we tried to stick to convention and made use of guns and army uniform. I think we were successful in establishing the fact that the two characters were in some way connected to the military because of their attire and the guns they were carrying, we also showed the fact that they were two opposing forces by making them wear two different colours of uniform.
Camerawork and editing.
For the camerawork and editing we tried to both use and challenge conventions of real media products. In the opening sequence we have included a lot of close ups to display the intensity of the emotion contained within the characters, this fits in with current conventions as it shows how the threat on life can be a scary situation and helps put the audience in the characters position, it also gives the characters more humanity and so we are able to show more sympathy as a result. Another effective camera technique we used was a fast moving prolonged pan of the woods and this was done to disorientate the viewer make them feel as panicked as the character. We have also included a lot of sharp zoom ins that coincide with the music to create a dramatic effect and make it seem more realistic, this challenges modern codes because it only occurs when something actually happens in contrast we apply this throughout the whole sequence constantly having the audience on edge. Colour correction was applied to the whole scene to give it a more serious tone help give it the right feel, we went for more of a darker bluish tone to reflect the nature of the situation.
Story and genre and how it is set up.
The genre is basically set up right at the start of the film with the quote we have included: 'all warfare is based on deception'. This is a very thought provoking quote and it tells you the film is going to include elements of war and also espionage and deception, this uses real media conventions because a lot of films use famous quotes to send a message or to describe the nature of the film, we have done the same and the audience will know what to expect, they will also remember this statement for the rest of the film and it will play off it. This also helps set the story up. The film jumps right into the action with two characters in a forest, one of them is predator one is prey but the audience doesn't really know what's going on until the end of the sequence which then sets up the whole film. This fits in with the conventions of an action thriller film because there is a lot of suspense and fast paced action.
