How did your media product use develop or challenge forms of real media products?

Our film teaser uses several camera techniques that are similar to real film teasers. These different types of camera techniques are used to build up tension depending on the genre of the film. For example, our film genre is based around action/ thriller/gangster so you would expect to see a variety of fast shots and edits to build up the atmosphere.  For our preparation we researched thoroughly different film teasers that are based in the action/thriller genre. We found out that the two films we were inspired from were Inception and Memento. These two films share the same media conventions as our film teaser.

In this medium long shot, the man in the grey suit is being dragged away by two henchmen towards a helicopter. I think the background is important here as you can see that there are lot of high rise buildings. This sets the scene as the audience quickly realise that this scene may involve some action as the signs in the background indicate danger in an urban setting. Also, the man being dragged away shows that the teaser may involve some kidnapping of some sort. The victim looks vulnerable and weak whilst the two body guards look strong and powerful. We chose to use this camera shot in a different way, as we believed that it would help link our film teaser to the genre of action/thriller. The mystery of a man being dragged away built up mystery and tension in our trailer and i believe we used this shot effectively to make the audience question why he was being kidnapped and who by.

  

( Our mid shot of the character walking and someone talking on the phone)

                              (Above: our use of titles to build tension and explain the story)

In these screenshots used from our film teaser ‘The List’, the titles are used and than there are a couple of shots afterwards. We chose to use this technique similar to ‘Inception’, as using the words 'one name.' This was used to give the audience the idea of there being a special or 'chosen' character and also hint at the idea of some sort of mission that he has to go on. I think the use of these titles was effective in conveying the right amount of information to the audienece.

One thing i regret is that we did not really try and challenge any media conventions. We used strerotypical representations, and although our trailer fitted perfectly within the genre, one criticism may be that we followed conventions so much that it was no longer very original.

Another way we were inspired by the film Inception and Memento was the use of titles in the teaser trailer. The titles used in both film teasers narrate the film so that the audiences can get a idea of what the film is about (content/narrative/ themes)

In this screenshot used from the film Inception the title ‘your mind is the scene of the crime’ is used to convey the psychological theme in the story to the viewers.  The title is used to give a sense of direction so the audience know what the film has to offer to them. By putting myself in the shoes of the audience I would straight away think that the film Inception may be a psychological thriller as the use of the word ‘mind’ means that the viewer may have to do a lot of thinking in this film. The word ‘crime’ is associated with action; drama so the straight away as a member of the audience you may think this is an action/thriller.