Evaluating using Form and Genre Conventions in our Coursework

Using form and genre conventions in our coursework

Trailer

Our trailer is an action/ thriller genre film which combines elements of the spy thriller and the techno-thriller.

• The following is a list of things that indicate this and portray a trailer form.

 

• Shots that help convey the genre include the girlfriend getting kidnapped  (2) the fight scene (4) and suspects being shown and discussed (5) suggesting that it is an action/thriller film as these are often the kinds of shot shown, as seen in stills from Mission Impossible 4 trailer below:

• These being included as part of a montage sequence gives our trailer pace and create suspense.

• Groups of quick shots that create montage sequences are often in trailers to show the main action events of the film quickly and would not feature in the actual film and sometimes not even in the same order. Therefore this is an indication that it is a trailer but also reveals the genre.

• Voice over explaining these shots is also a characteristic of the trailer form.

• Also the dialogue from one shot is carried over different shots to explain them better, and these are called L-cuts.

• The dialogue is used to explain the main events such as over the kidnapping scene (2) and when you see a body collapsed of stairs (1)

• Props such as syringes (3) and a suspect board (5) help explain key elements of the plot of the trailer and convey the spy drama element of our genre. The still below is a suspect board from TV spy drama "Spooks".

• The 'hero' shot that she shows in slow motion of all three main characters, the photographer, the hacker and the journalist - a conventional shot to convey the determination of the heroes.

• The 'princess' when we show the girlfriend getting kidnapped and the plot revolving around trying to find her (2)

• The 'villains', which within our storyline are the suspects of kidnapping the girlfriend. 

• It is also a convention of the thriller genre that the characters that are grouped together are an unlikely combination. This is the case with the unlikely duo in "Girl With the Dragon Tattoo".

• Intertitles (8) showing our production company gives the audience an idea of what the film is going to be about or like based on previous films (7). This is also another indication that it is a trailer as they wouldn't appear in full-length film. (8)  A similar intertitle is used in "Wanderlust":

Poster 

• The muted colour palette, the dark colour mimics the dark storyline and establishes an atmosphere for the audience, but still make it eye catching therefore it stands out as it is to advertise the film to its audience (1)  The overall look is indicative of the genre - darkness and secrecy. A similar colour palette was used in "Tinker, Tailor" - mainly dark with one splash of colour.

• The lighting of the main image adds to this atmosphere as it is meant to look as though the computer screen is lighting up his face. this gives a sense of secrecy to it and puts this across to the audience and also emphasis secretive computer activity such as blogging and hacking that our trailer includes. (2)

• This lighting only lights half of the face and is commonly used with posters of these genres to suggest a hidden side.

• The tag line, at the top of the poster, references the plot of our film and also indicates that it is a poster (3)

• The computer screen in the background of our poster, references the plot of our film and also displays images of people and scenes from the trailer to suggest the action genre as it is an image of (2)

• The 'coming soon' at the bottom of the poster, indicates that it is a film poster. sometimes they say the date however earlier posters are just to let the audience know that the film is coming out. (4)

•  States the production company name which gives the institution authenticity (5)

• The billing block informs the audience about the production company, cast and crew (5)

Magazine Cover 

 

• Obvious hero shot cover images. Main character centre page, looking at camera slightly in front of other characters, shows that the other character have main parts but the journalist is the main character  as his front position shows he is the main hero (1) Similar to the classic harry Potter three character poses.

• Others sightly turned away from the camera lens 
• All three characters looking serious, gives audience a sense of tone for the film - but we were not sure if the genre was clearly conveyed so have worked hard to make it clear in other ways and by making the mag a special edition for films in our genre.
• Text 'including interviews from...' makes the audience want to buy the magazine and is  feature /conventions of magazine covers (2)
• Including things such as website address for the magazine cover are formal features of a magazine cover. (3)  (5)
•  Anchoring text that overlaps the main images is often used on magazine cover to pin down the meaning of the images. 
• The background of the magazine cover of a keyboard is an indication of the genre and storyline. (1) also the fact that is it a keyboard establishes the genre of our film.  
• Also the strapline of the magazine at the top of the page advertises the magazine and emphasises the fact that it is a 'special edition' with the way that it is presented. (4)

 

Evaluation of form and genre in our products

TRAILER

 

• 1. Title 
• Dark or black background with the words "Anonymous X"
• In typewriter font, to set 'hacking theme'.
• Follows the theme of blogging because it has a typewriting effect on
• Dark background follows theme of "action thriller" which tends to have dark background

• 2. Ratings card
• This should be the standard ratings card for a UK trailer
• Normally shows what the film rating is, and then states the trailers approved for all audience
• Helps convey sense of more violent action which can't be shown in this case

• 3. Production ident
• Image of an astronaut floating through space 
• Theme of a light-hearted animated logo
• Dosen't relate to the film as it is used for all of the company's films
• Also adds institutional credibility

• 4. Credits
• Black background with film billing block in front
• Simple credit to fit the darker mood.
• This is a feature of the trailer form.

Standard billing block

• 5. + 6. Character
• Establishes the main characters and their roles
• "Anonymous X" in a dark room on a computer
• Photographer is shown with camera which establishes his job
• Scenes of the characters at computers, conveys the type of theme it is and establishes genre
• Having a hacker character is typical of an "action thriller" set in the themes of (secrets, espionage, truths and hidden files)
• We also convey the typical buddy cop scenario, in these film, there is normally two characters who begin hating each ofter then grow to become friends. (Hacker and blogger) Girl with The Dragon Tattoo follows this 'unlikely pairing' convention also.

Unlikely pairing

• 6. + 7. Mise-en-scene 
• Typically in action thrillers they are set in dark rooms with computer screens and backstreet alleyways. as here in Tinker Tailor:

Backstreet location

• We use props such as the camera to create atmosphere that something important is happening which needs to be documented (taking photo of something he shouldn't)
• Clothing conveys the type of characters, they are, dark hoodies on the characters who are sneaking around (undercover). We use costume as a way of telling information such as the same character is in a room with hood up, you know he's not meant to be there or when they are wearing brighter clothing they are usually safe.
• Coats were an important piece of clothing in our trailer, (represents the detective genre overcoat) as we tried to show lots of shots of them hanging around gloomy places, where they shouldn't be. Here is a use of the classic long coat in Tinker Tailor:

Coat as indicator of genre

• We cast younger people for our trailer because they fit the roles more. You would expect a teenager to have a blog, and it makes sense why they wouldn't be allowed in places. Our genres tend to depend on older actors for the main characters so this breaks conventions a little; our younger cast adds a new dimension to the genre as the problems they face are likely to vary. However, the teenage hacker is a staple character in spy drama and action thrillers as here in War Games:

Teenage hacker in War Games

• 8. + 9. Editing 
• We overlayed, on different layers images to make scenes look more professional, on the news report, we overlayed news images to make it look like a real report.
• Our opening shots are edited slow which shows progression, and the final half is quick edited with lots of shots and a action montage sequences. 
• We turned down the saturation on our CCTV shots so it looked more like that low quality, no colour CCTV.
• We also added a red dot, which blinks so that you get the idea that we want you to know its the camera.
• This added the kind of verisimilitude that is needed in dramas with a spy element to the genre hybrid. This kind of footage is used often in "Spooks":

CCTV surveillance shot from Spooks

• 10. + 11. Camera work
• We used long (wide angle shots), for the action fight scenes to get a sense of a lot of action taking place in a secluded small areas.
• We used different camera angles to convey the emotions of the characters, such as a low angled tilt shot, so that we get the hero shot, or high up looking down on jess in a corner.
• We also used close ups to establish the main characters and extreme close up on the bloggers eyes when he is blogging to create a scene of intelligence, because he is focused.
• We use 'over the shoulder' shots for the conversation between the " hacker and the blogger", used in all genre which creates fluid idea of conversation.
• Most of our camera work you could apply to most genres, except for the POV shots of CCTV which is very specific to our genre.

• 12. Sound
• We have the main track which is a suspension building drum beat which gets louder and faster as the trailer moves on.
• For some conversation scenes, we have recorded the dialog separately because there was too much ambient/ background noise
• During the action montage the beat is much faster and there is extra sound effects added for (punches etc.)

POSTER

 

• 1. Title
• This is the name of our film and needs to stand out and be the first thing your eyes read off the poster.
• This needs to be in the same style and font as all the other products so that people will associate are other products such as trailer.

• 2. Computer
• This is the computer screen which is behind the main character, it is used to fill space and to relate our film's story, as our main character is a blogger, so a lot of the film will be of him at different computers, blogging information.
• Similar to a lot of posters there is usually information. Plot points or teasers about the actual film. so we have included an image of 'someone dead for the audience to discover' in the style of a blog post, this is an element of the tease campaign. We took inspiration for the overall construction of our poster from this one for Tinker Tailor - the close up, looking directly at the audience. However, we decided to add more genre details in a background image as Tinker Tailor is based on a  well-known book and our film needed more clarity.

Close up, direct gaze

• 3. Billing block
• This is in the style of the normal conventions of a poster.
• This includes credits of director, producer, actor, and company etc. and everything you would see in a real poster.
• it also includes important information such as the release date, poster usually have this information or at least 'coming soon' 
• We have included logos of e.g. sound mastering companies as well, following the conventional layout as below:

Poster billing block

• 4. Main image
• Like most posters we have a close up of our main character, it is expected that he is a known actor that will draw attention.
• His face will have a blue glow as if the light from the computer is shining on him, which fits our theme, lit face hints at secrecy as in this poster below:

Atmospheric lighting

• 5. Layout 
• The layout is very similar to conventional posters. It shows off the film without revealing any footage
• Let's people know only the important information.

MAGAZINE

 

• 1. Masthead
• We tried to follow the conventions of a magazine by having the main image overlap the masthead slightly.
• We included a strapline... "The most exclusive reviews in London" which is common on magazines we used exclusive so that the reader would feel important for purchasing. (Creating consumer pride)
• Masthead will be red so that it stands out to the reader which you can expect from a real magazine.

• 2.Cover lines
• This is the information about the major articles on the front of the magazine
• We tried to make it in the style of a 'right click menu' so that it fits the theme of our film so that the products link. (Hacker/blogger theme)
• Magazines do change the overall look to match the style of the film if it's a big new release, also particularly if it's a special edition as ours is.
• We also tried to follow the left hand bias so more information is on the side you will see if the on a magazine rack, even if the magazines are stacked. 

• 3. Puff for film
• This is the name of our film which is the main article the magazine is covering.
• Typical to see this in the middle overlaying the main image
• The font is the same as the trailer and poster so that it can be associated with our other products

• 4. Smaller Images
• This is a collection of other films articles in this magazine you expect to see at least 3 or 4 of these.
• They normally have a still frame from the film and show the mag has a lot of content to offer.

• 5. Main Image
• We tried to make sure the layout resembled that of a real magazine. so everything is in the place you would expect to see it.
• The background image is of a keyboard this again is us trying to replicate the similar theme to our trailer and other products. Also reasonably dark and plain background to allow the text to stand out. 
• Our characters are posed conventionally for an action thriller and also for a group of three characters with the hero in the middle and his sidekicks on each side, slightly behind. We felt that despite following conventions, our genre wasn't represented clearly enough by this main image which is why we paid so much attention to the other details to create the techno-thriller feel.
• We noticed when we looked at the Empire cover for "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" that it relied on audience knowledge - the overall cover realy didn't convey the genre at all. We decided we needed to be more careful with our cover as our film won't be that well-known already:

Non-film specific cover

 

Evaluation of form and genre in products

 

Trailer

Formal Conventions

• We have followed many formal conventions in our work to clearly establish that it is a trailer.
• The ratings card (1) is a formal convention found before many trailers. It shows the appropriate audience for the text and we use it in our coursework to give it more authenticity.
• Other ways we gave our coursework the feel of a trailer was whilst editing. The inter-title slides we inserted, such as "From The Makers Of",(2)  establish the text as a trailer to the audience and this is why they are used.

Intertitle from "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"

• Whilst editing, the sound is also important as a formal convention to create the form of a trailer. The change in soundtrack, increases pace by using a faster track to cause a big build up at the end which is seen in all trailers, and the mix up of dialogue.
• We have a scene where two people are talking and by using an L-cut, we take this dialogue and add different video over the top from other parts of the film. (3) This establishes the product as a trailer as it is a common device used to establish narrative in a short space of time.
• The placement of shots is a formal convention for trailers. The shots are in non-chronological order as they are grouped thematically e.g. a montage of shots of our characters in danger. (4)
• The 'coming soon' and 'end credits' slide coming at the end are part of a trailers' formal convention, along with the 'title slide' coming at the beginning. (13, 14)

Genre Conventions

• The genre of our coursework trailer is action/thriller with a technology focus so there are certain conventions we used to establish the genre.
• Beginning with the mise-en-scene. The over-the-shoulder shots of computer screens and 'techno 'props go well together. They establish a use of technology/modern age feel on the action/thriller genre, which can potentially cause excitement amongst an audience as we live in the digital age. The 'geeky' props are things such as; glasses, computers, laptops, cables, blogs and cameras. (8)

Technology in "Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol"

• The dialogue used is common as a genre convention of the action/thriller trailers. It sets up a problem "My girlfriend has been kidnapped" (4) and working as part of the enigma code this also catches the attention of the audience.
• Dialogue such as "Run!" are common and help with the pace build; short and snappy.

• The roles we show are also very common in the action/ thriller genre. The villains are very obvious in the shots we show; drug deals and fighting scenes are common in action films. They are shown in quiet locations. (5) We also have some cross-over with the spy genre because our main character is an investigative journalist looking into a cover up and we include classic spy-style 'drop' scenes.

'Drop' scene



Suitcase drop in "Tinker, Tailor"



• The heroes are shown in the 'slo-mo hero walk shot'. This is where James, Michael and I are seen walking towards the camera in slow motion from a low angle. This is a classic shot to show a group of people who are determined to succeed and can be seen in all kinds of genres but mainly those where there is a thriller-style plot.

Hero shot

Similar shot from "Fringe"

• We also use shots that deliberately reference other texts in our genre, hoping that our audience will recognise and appreciate these references. For example, the shot where I pull the glasses off my face in shock is similar to the Daniel Craig shot featured within "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo". We also use similar dialogue about encryption. These references are a game we play with the audience, as well as our references to classic spy drama.

Our shot

Shot from "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"

• We also have action shots to fit the genre, such as; the big alleyway fight scene where James takes on numerous people (6), shots of people getting punched and the shot where Michael is being strangled via his own camera strap by an anonymous person. This shot will cause the audience to ask questions.
• The 'slow team build' is also common in the genre.

Poster

 

Establishing Genre

• This poster needs to hint at our genre hybrid - action/thriller/spy.
• It has a muted colour pallet, which gives off a dark and moody vibe.
• A poster in the spy genre 'Tinker, Tailor...' uses a muted palette with a bright colour for the title. However, 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' has a dark poster so ours fits the genre while showing that there can be flexibility in the approach.

• On our poster we have included a computer screen with a key image from the film - the girl, Kess, apparently dead as someone callously walks past, which appears to have been put onto the "Anonymous X" blog.
• The computer screen fits with the digital/techno feel of our film, a theme that is becoming increasingly popular and is becoming a new conve ntion in the thriller.  Also, our main plot revolves around the use of blogs so the computer screen represents this on the poster, which will help the audience gain a little insight into the film before it is released.
• The image on the computer screen helps convey the action/thriller genre more clearly as the main image does not - the "Tinker Tailor" poster uses small images in this way.
• The use of a computer screen on our poster is a way of giving a teaser to our audience which causes interest in the poster and film.
• The computer screen is also at an angle which lights up half of my face with a blue tint. This can draw comparisons from the 'Tinker, Tailor...' poster. The cold blue works well with the spy element, while the lighting source links to our techno theme.

Formal Conventions

• There are also ways you can tell it is a poster through form, one of these being the 'billing block'. The billing block is situated in the bottom at the middle on all posters we researched, this is also where ours is situated.
• Another poster form is the 'coming soon' title. This is usually below the billing block and it gives an audience an estimation of when the film will be released. 'Coming Soon - December 2013'.
• The tag line is an important part of the poster form. It makes itself aware as a poster to the audience whilst hinting about the plot, 'Your Secrets Are Never Safe'.

Magazine cover

 Conveying the Genre

• Our magazine features elements that are taken from covers within the 'action/thriller' genre.
• This can be seen with our main image. On magazines we looked at, when there are 3 heroes they are placed centrally facing different directions with the main character looking at the camera.
• We changed our background several times. Our main image follows the conventions for composing a group of three, but we were not sure if the genre of the film was clear from the image. We therefore chose to photograph a computer keyboard to indicate the blogging theme and had our characters stand on it. We used a glowing blue line to suggest the keyboard is lighting up to make it look more technologically advanced.
• We decided to highlight the hacking/blogging theme from our trailer. This can be seen in the strapline at the top and the list of teaser text. Here we have adjusted the laout and look to suit a computer-based image. The strapline looks like a search bar and the teaser text is in a drop down menu box.
• We are conscious that these are very genre-specific choices and have decided to make our cover a special edition investigating the techno-thriller as it is more often the case that magazines change their overall look for a special edition than for an ordinary issue.

Masthead adjusted for Inception cover

The Magazine Cover Form

• It is common magazine form for the main image to overlap the masthead.
• The name of the magazine is also very particular. They are usually one bold word, eg. 'Empire'. Our choice was 'Inside' to hint at exclusivity and almost secret information.
• Ways an audience can tell it's a magazine include the issue number and date 'Issue 5' 'November 2013' - elements that have a practical purpose and also indicate form.
• There is usually a three-colour scheme on a magazine cover. We saw this by looking at covers from 'Total Film' and 'Empire'. The colours we went with were; blue, white and grey as these tie in with both the genre and our other products but are also technology related colours.
• The teaser text is also important for magazines as it tells a potential reader what they can find within the magazine. From research we found that the text is not genre specific as the magazine needs to advertise a range of options. Our text followed this 'WOODY ALLEN EXCLUSIVE' 'LINCOLN REVIEW'.
• Another convention of a magazine is that the text is always full of words that equate to a certain exclusivity. To take examples from our cover it is words such as 'First Look' and 'Exclusive'.
• We made sure that the title of our filmn was prominent on the cover to make it clear that this is the main film being promoted in this issue.



Evaluation of Form and Genre in Products

Trailer

1.
This is a good example of how our genre (spy / techno-thriller hybrid) can be shown in a single shot. It shows aspects of mise-en-scene like the clothing is typical for a journalist with the long jacket. The camera is a key prop to represent the photographer. The location is  a deserted place where they can talked and not be heard. They are talking about the main plot point of the film (the kidnapping) which will also reveal the genre.

Classic spy meeting in "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" with long coats as conventional spy wear

2.
Jess being thrown in the boot of a car shows us that she is the princess in this story.
The kidnappers, even though they can't be seen, represent the villain. Along with the hero and his sidekicks (shown in 1), these are the main archetypes for any action genre including our sub-genre.

Similar archetypes from Mission Impossible 4 Russian version

3.
The fight scene shows action in our film and gives us idea of who the third character is. He is dressed all in black making him mysterious and he is clearly a savage ally like the hacker from The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo.

Lisbeth Salandar from "Girl With Dragon Tattoo"

The shot also shows editing techniques and good use of sound. The editing had to be right so the continuity was right and the entire shot flowed. We had to use punching sound effects and stabilize the volumes of the sound track and the diegetic sound to it all could be clearly heard.

4.
This shot shows a relationship between the two characters - this uniting of very different characters ina  team is typical of the genre. It also has extra mise-en-scene aspects: the journalist has his long coat and glasses which is extremely typical for journalist in crime films, and the bag around the third characters neck has computery things in it like a laptop and wires which shows he's a hacker.

Hacker Equipment

5.
The slow-mo hero shot is a typical shot for action movies - a low mid shot of the heroes walking towards camera which is slowed in post. It is not specific to our genre but is associated with the action thriller, of which our hybrid could be considered a sub-genre.

Hero shot from Ocean's Eleven

6.
This news report is a common technique in spy drama to move the action out of the enclosed world of the narrative and make it seem relevant to a wider world out there which then does not have to be shown.


7.8.9
These shots show the enigma code the most, the narrative code that is mose relevant to our genre which has a strong element of mystery to it. In 7 we can tell that someone is dead but it is hard to make out -  it looks like the girls from the earlier shots but we cannot be sure because the shot comes and goes too fast.
In 8, the tied up scene shows us that the hero is in trouble and we want to know if and how he gets out of a situation like that.
9 The blog being deleted also enhances the enigma code and has a symbolic value as it might connote the 'deletion' of the characters behind the blog.

10.
Shows the main character blogging - in the techno-thriller, computers and gadgets and communcation across cyberspace are common elements.

Technical equipment background

11.12.13.14.15: Formal elements
These are all formal conventions that we have stuck to to make the institution look professional and gives the viewer trust in our films. We do this in a number of ways. By drawing on previous success 'from the maker of...' Not only that but having a ratings card makes the view think there watching something made by a big company which the credit slide also does.
The name of the film and the 'coming soon' slide are two slides that are normally used in real film trailers. We have followed the convention of placing the title towards the end of the film where it will probably stick in the audiences' memories and coming soon is an important signal to watch out for the film.

Poster and Magazine 

       
Poster
1.
Muted colors shows the genre of crime mystery thriller. General layout is conventional of that of a film poster.
The main image was chosen because the person is looking directly at the camera, very conventional for a film poster from a genre like this. It makes the viewing of the poster more intense which is what our films would be like.

The poster we took most inspiration from

2.
Lighting on Luke's face looks like its coming from a computer screen which links with him using a computer a lot because he does in the film, another hint at the techno element of out thriller.

3.
The computer in  the background shows a screen from the blog in our movie. The pictures on the blog show evidence of the Action and Enigma codes - it helps to convey the genre more clearly than the close up alone could do as we see that significant action will need to be taken to resolve the problem of the body, and we wonder who she is and what she is doing there.

Main figure with more action-based photos behind

4.
The title of the film is laid out in a typical place of a poster, it is bolder and larger than any other text on the page so it stands out the most like it would on a real film poster.

5.
The billing block and the coming soon also conform to layout conventions for films posters which allows it to look more authentic. Coming soon is a key element that estabvlishes that this is a film poster rather than any other kind and the billing block, although rarely read, gives institutional credibility.

Magazine Cover

The magazine cover is the most difficult product when it comes to genre. We found it easy to follow formal conventions as these are quite clear cut and do not vary much for magazine covers. However, it is much harder to convey the genre as the magazine has its own agenda (selling copies) and will want to show a variety of content. So we have gone for making our magazine a special edition devoted to the techno-thriller genre so that we can increase the genre elements of our cover.

Bond special edition Total Film

The main image is of the three main characters. We have composed our shot in a way that is conventional when three characters feature on a cover with the main character in the centre directly facing the camera and the other characters slightly behind and facing in slightly different directions.

Grouping of three characters

1,6
These are small features of layout that are present on every magazine cover - a strap line, price, issue number etc. We have given them a computer influenced feel to suit the genre.

2
This is not conventional for a magazine cover but  making the while magazine center around our themes of technology and computing and draws more attention to our genre.

3
The masthead is very conventional. It is in a colour that is not similar to the overall colour scheme so it stands out aclearly. It is bold and takes up a large amount of space. Also the heads of the characters on the cover are overlapping which is a common convention of a magazine cover.

4
These are stills from films that are in similar genre to ours to make the special edition and also show the reader the variety of content on offer.

5
The main teaser text for our film is in the same font through out all our products so the audience knows that it is the same movie being advertised everywhere. It is also larger than the other teaser text to show that our film is the main attraction for this issue of the magazine.

7
The teaser text is in the style of a right click button menu. This is another thing that gives us a like to the theme of computers showing this issue is all about our film and films in the same genre.