In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
When going into the film industry I feel that it is very important to have a good knowledge of forms and conventions . Following conventions shows your understanding of a particular genre or particular representation, it is also important to challenge these forms and conventions. Throughout this post you will see how I have used, challenged and developed these forms and conventions.
Conventions I Have Used and Challenged
In this section I am going to be stating and explaining the forms and conventions that I have used.
Conventions of a Short Film
- Length - The length of a short film is usually between 3 to 20 minutes, but can last up to 30 minutes. If the film is any longer it would no longer be classed as a short film and it would be classed as a feature film. In the case of our short film the specification states that our short film must last a maximum length of 5 minutes.
- Storyline - The storylines are generally simple and easy to follow and is based over a short period of time. Due to the time being condensed there is limited dialogue. A lot of short films also have a moral to the story.
- Characters - In short films there is typically 1-3 main characters, as they don't have time to create back stories or history for the characters. This also allows the audience to relate to these characters as they are not shown lots of information or new people.
- Twist - There is commonly a twist in short films, but this isn't an essential convention for short films. This twist can tell a short story in an interesting and creative way which makes the audience engaged.
- Budget - The budget for a short film is usually low, based on the fact that most are independent, sticking to one or two locations and using a low amount of actors.
- Audience - Short films have a niche audience due to the creativity, length and plot of the film. Even though they are easily accessible, many people are not aware of short films.
Typical Codes and Conventions of a Drama
Throughout our short film we had to try and find a good underscore to use that would match the genre of our film and match the live action that was going on in the background. Here are the underscores that we decided to use.
Sad/Happy Ambient Music - "Happy Ending (Alternative)"
If you want to listen to the underscore click here.
The reason we chose this soundtrack is because there are both happy and sad scenes in our short film. Also the conventions of a drama is the climaxes and anti-climaxes. The story normally starts off happy and then something disrupts it. So we wanted an underscore to represent the change in the plot so we had this happy and sad ambient music which we felt fit really well with our short film.
This was the underscore we used throughout the film however, we broke up the underscore with some ambient sounds like birds and and swings etc.
Conventions I used in my short film Grief
Below I am going to embed my final cut and then explain at each stage the forms and conventions that I have used in my short film including; mise-en-scene, camerawork and editing.
Narrative Theories
Challenging the Forms and Conventions
Conventions of a Film Poster
- It must be eye catching and captivating to the audience
- There must be a focal picture that will draw in the audiences attention
- The title is displayed in large, eye-catching font
- It clearly defines the films genre
- The poster should be designed to attract the largest audience possible
- There is usually an indication of when the film is being released - either a date or "coming soon"
- Information on the directors and production company is often displayed in a credit block at the bottom of the poster
- There could be reviews or titles of other films that the company have made
Harry Potter Poster Deconstruction
Here I have deconstructed a real film poster from the film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. Here I am going to show you how a real film poster follows forms and conventions of a poster.
Grief Film Poster Deconstruction
Here I have deconstructed a my film poster from my short film Grief. Here I am going to show you how my film poster follows forms and conventions of a real poster.
How I have Used and Developed Forms and Conventions
How I have Challenged the Conventions
Conventions of a Magazine Review
- Film name and year - having the film name and year of the film release is conventional to any review as it allows the audience to understand the film genre, credits, details, director, screenwriter, cast, stars, soundtrack and much more information.
- Quotes and taglines - More often than not a review will begin with a quote, a reference or a tagline from the actual film as a brief introduction to the film to grab the audiences attention, hence it is a common feature of reviews. Although it is not used in all short films as they may not have key quotations within them due to their length.
- Introduction and summary - It is very conventional for the first paragraph to contain a brief plot summary of the film, often written with the intention of leading the audience to want to see the film. The summary will include aspects of the timeline, location, narrative, cast, performance etc.
- Characters - It is sometimes a convention for short film reviews to focus on the protagonist in the film. Explain how they are good or bad, explore their qualities and personality. However, it isn't always present in a short film because there are so little characters.
- Ratings - In film reviews it is conventional to summarise the review in a brief paragraph. Usually with a percentage or a rating out of 5 stars
- Increased sizing of the first letter of a paragraph (drop capital)
- Image with captions
- Page Numbers
- Pull Quote
- The date
- Byline
- Folio
- Running Head
Grief Magazine Review Deconstruction
How I have Used and Developed Forms and Conventions
How I have Challenged Forms and Conventions
Throughout the magazine review we haven't challenged any forms and convention. On reflection we have followed the layout of a typical magazine review which left no room to challenge any forms or conventions. I feel in doing this my magazine review look much more professional and much more eye-catching and like it would fit perfectly in a magazine.
Conclusion
Throughout this answer I have evaluated how I have used, developed and challenged forms and conventions. While evaluating this I found that I had conformed to a lot of forms and conventions, however, I did manage to challenge some of these conventions so that I didn't create a same old drama film I wanted to create something that did conform to conventions but was also a bit different as well. Doing this helped me to understand the importance of following conventions but also challenging them as well.
My next post will be my Evaluation Question 2.
