EVALUATION: Q1
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Film openings often follow certain conventions to convey meanings or messages embedded within the films, or they challenge conventions to propose new ideas or notions. Conventions can exist within different genres and sub-genres. For example, the conventions used in horror films are different to the conventions used in comedies.
The screen grabs above are taken from my own film opening. They are quite bright and light in comparison to the ones in ARLINGTON ROAD; this was a device we used to lull our audience into a false sense of security. We wanted the opening of our film to be quite positive in contrast to the creepy music in the background and the revelation of the death at the end. The contrast in film opening title sequences (between ARLINGTON ROAD and IMOGEN) is also down to the fact that ARLINGTON ROAD uses a stylised title sequence, with distorted colours and images to add to its thriller genre.
Above is the first ten minutes of THE SECRET WINDOW, a psychological thriller, however I am only focusing on the title sequence. My own opening is very similar to this opening in that, similar to ARLINGTON ROAD, the titles come up over footage and not a blank screen. This is important because it shows you what the film is going to be about - for ours, our titles came up over shots of a park, suggesting that there will be something to do with a child. Similarly, in THE SECRET WINDOW, the titles come up over the house, a place which comes to be very important to the film's plot.
Other conventions of film openings are the positions of the titles within the film. In my own opening, the title, IMOGEN, comes up at 0:49 seconds. The length of my own title sequence is 1:39 seconds, so the title is right in the middle of my opening. This follows conventions because to have it too late during the title sequence is not conventional, as the film title is one of the most important titles a film will have. Other conventions of film titles show contrast between my opening and the opening of THE SECRET WINDOW; THE SECRET WINDOW stars Johnny Depp, a famous Hollywood actor. Because of his fame, his name is shown early on in the titles before the actual film title as a marketing tool, enticing Depp's fans in. Because my own film is produced by a small independent company and does not, therefore, star any famous actors, our main actor 'Aaron Meller' comes up after the title and quite far into the title sequence.
The screen grabs above are taken from the thriller ARLINGTON ROAD. We have followed very similar conventions used in these titles; we have our titles come up over footage instead of having them appear over a blank screen; they are over clips of significant things instead of characters (for example the house and the swings). We also followed conventions by starting off with our production and distribution company titles, before anything else.
Above is the first ten minutes of THE SECRET WINDOW, a psychological thriller, however I am only focusing on the title sequence. My own opening is very similar to this opening in that, similar to ARLINGTON ROAD, the titles come up over footage and not a blank screen. This is important because it shows you what the film is going to be about - for ours, our titles came up over shots of a park, suggesting that there will be something to do with a child. Similarly, in THE SECRET WINDOW, the titles come up over the house, a place which comes to be very important to the film's plot.
Other conventions of film openings are the positions of the titles within the film. In my own opening, the title, IMOGEN, comes up at 0:49 seconds. The length of my own title sequence is 1:39 seconds, so the title is right in the middle of my opening. This follows conventions because to have it too late during the title sequence is not conventional, as the film title is one of the most important titles a film will have. Other conventions of film titles show contrast between my opening and the opening of THE SECRET WINDOW; THE SECRET WINDOW stars Johnny Depp, a famous Hollywood actor. Because of his fame, his name is shown early on in the titles before the actual film title as a marketing tool, enticing Depp's fans in. Because my own film is produced by a small independent company and does not, therefore, star any famous actors, our main actor 'Aaron Meller' comes up after the title and quite far into the title sequence.
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