Real Media ResearchLO: Am I able to explore and evaluate key genre conventions and how they engage an audience effectively in an opening sequence?

Target Audience FeedbackBy now, you have gathered some audience

feedback and know what genre they are interested in.

It’s now up to you to complete research into this genre so you know what conventions the genre has…so you can follow them!

You will need to complete this research individually – and look at four films each (at least).

Example: Jurassic Park

Genre: Action/adventure

Opening Sequence Conventions: The film opens with the Universal logo and titles which list the production company credits.

Opening Sequence Conventions:

The title of the film is shown before the action begins with a swell of the score – to signify to the audience that things are going to get tense…

Genre Conventions:

The choice of colour and font link to the genre as red signifies danger, which is a conventional theme in A/A. The bold, blocky font stands out and emphasizes the sense of danger.

Opening Sequence Conventions:

The slow fades between the titles and the first shot of the sequence create a sense of tension and engima as the audience do not know what to expect.

Opening Sequence/Genre Conventions:

The first close-up of a person shows a worried face and the audience do not know what he is looking at. This creates tension and is conventional of a/a for the audience to be on the edge of their seats.

Genre Conventions:

The shot/reverse shot between the workers faces and the swaying trees continues to build the tension.

The night-time setting is conventional of a/a as it is easy to conceal things and build tension.

Genre Conventions: The prop of guns is used. Weaponry is conventional of action/adventure as it implies there will be scenes of violence. The audience would find this exciting.

Opening Sequence Conventions: The character’s costume also immediately establishes him as a hunter – continuing to introduce the narrative to the audience through visual clues rather than obvious dialogue.

Opening Sequence Conventions: Enigma is continually built by slowly revealing elements of the narrative – the audience wonder what is in the box.

Genre Conventions: The low-bass score builds tension and adds a sense of potential danger.

Genre Conventions: The point-of-view shot from the unknown creature in the box establishes that whatever it is, is the antagonist and is dangerous. This begins to establish the theme of good vs. evil which is a core theme in action/adventure films.

Genre Conventions: Although there is minimal dialogue the narrative is established through action (another typical convention). This quickly moves into a violent situation which builds tension quickly through speeding up the pace of the editing.

In addition, the audience sees a stereotypical representation of a black male – he is a lackey who is killed off quickly into the opening.

Opening Sequence Conventions: The camera shots used towards the end are used to sustain a sense of enigma. The extreme close-ups of the creature only hint at what it might be and the build excitement, without giving away too much.

Opening Sequence/Genre Conventions:

One of the final shots of the sequence is an extreme close-up of the hunter shouting ‘shoot her’ repeatedly. This dialogue is emphasised over all other dialogue establishing these words as important. The audience is left wondering what has cause this damage and is able to out-smart humans. It is established it is incredibly dangerous and the audience should be afraid of it!

Opening Sequence Conventions:

The final extreme close-up of the victim’s hand being dragged out of reach is shown using slow motion. As the scene slowly dissolves to the next the sound of screams and gun shots create a sound bridge to the contrasting, peaceful scene that follows. This leaves the audience with lots of questions and has engaged them in the film (a wise choice…it is AWESOME)!

Task:1. Decide what genre you are doing as a group.

2. Research what the genre’s conventions are.

3. On your blog post your genre decision and bullet point the conventions for the genre you have found.

4. Individually complete your real media research. You will need at least four each.

Action/Adventure:• Jurassic Park• Indiana Jones –

Raiders• Super 8• National

Treasure• The Dark Knight

Thriller:• Side Effects• Memento• Se7en• The Dark Knight• The Girl with

the Dragon Tattoo

Romance Drama:• 500 Days of

Summer• Celeste and

Jesse Forever• Forrest Gump• The Notebook

Teen Comedy/Drama:• 10 Things I Hate

about You• Clueless• Mean Girls• Pitch Perfect• Easy A• Juno• Napoleon

Dynamite