Coursework Evalutation : Question 1

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

Plan:

I did some research into the genre to find out the typical conventions included in media products within it.

Costume and props:
Usually within the sci-fi genre the costume and props are futuristic and imply a sense of space or otherworldliness, such as the light saber in star wars to give a science fiction effect of something unusual . In this aspect I strayed from the usual conventions as although I used technology as a focus within the opening (which could be seen as sticking to the conventions) I only used typical things from 21st century period in time; such as a mac. It is not unusual to see a teenage boy on his laptop therefore it adds more of a sense of realism than what one would stereotypically expect from the genre. Furthermore, his costume is also not typical of the genre, as one would expect it to be again futuristic, but my character is dressed eccentrically in smart clothes, as seen in frame 7, but not so much that he looks startlingly out of place; therefore again defying the conventions.

Title:
Usually the titles of this genre are very simple; they define what is in the film quite outrightly, for example Monsters vs Aliens lets the audience know exactly what the film is going to be about simply from reading the title. In this case, I think I develop this convention slightly as my title does let the audience know about what the film is going to be about but in a far more subtle manner, integrate is a word used in technology which lets them know that will be the premise for the film; but can also be used for as integrated into a new place or environment, which if the film was to be made in full the plot would carry on to show how teenagers had been taken into this new universe; therefore the title implies the plot rather than straight out inform as typical of the genre.

Title font:
For this genre, it is usually simple and static typography. My title, as seen in frame 9, fits into this convention as it is very simple white writing, in a static font that very sharp and separate so the title is easy to read and understand therefore conforming the the typical conventions of the genre.

Camera work and editing:
This typical contains a lot of special effects and close up of unusual or futuristic objects within the sci-fi genre, to again show the audience a different sense of time or space. Within my opening I stray from this convention as I tried to give my opening a more realistic feel than typical from science fiction. Although there is a large focus of the camera following the laptop, the main camerawork has  emphasis on character his movement. Furthermore, as shown by frames 2 and 6, the editing does use some special effects such as over lay and a glitch, as well as time lapse in earlier shots within the opening. However the time lapse and over lay are more to show time passing and give the audience a sense of character rather than add other worldly feels, therefore conflicts the typical conventions. However the glitch effect is meant to portray something unusual and therefore is more conventional.

Character:
The typical character of this genre is 'geeky' or defies the norms of society in some way, or fits into a different society which has different rules and regulations to ours. My character, as shown in frame 3, is very nerdy and quite isolated from the rest of society, therefore fits the conventions to a certain extent as he is an introvert that acts in a very exaggerated version of the normal teenager.

Setting/ location:
This is usually alternative/parallel universes or in a different time period. The locations used in my film challenge this as they are set in modern times, frame 1, but also develop this as they then transfer into a parallel computer setting, frames 6 and 7. This therefore makes it a more stereotypical setting as it makes the audience aware that the character it not in a normal location; even if started off in one.

Sound:
The sound in my  opening develops upon the typical conventions of sci-fi openings. Usually there is some form of narration to introduce the audience into the concept of the film, which my opening has, but it does it after the use of a soundtrack which conflicts the normal conventions of the order of the sound in the opening. It also switches from diegetic sound to non diegetic sound, which goes against the conventions of how sound is introduced. It also included dialogue at the end, which follows the normal order as it sets up the rest of the film, so this fits the conventions of sound within the genre.