Evaluation Question 1

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

 

Conventions of title sequences, what their purpose is and why they follow a strict order

 

A title sequence is there to establish the mood, character, theme, plot, setting, genre, atmosphere etc. During a title sequence, we see the opening credits of a movie where we are shown the names of the production companies, of the movie, actors, directors, and some crew members. Very usually, for title sequences such as the one myself and my group were doing - High School - has a very long list of credits, whereas Youth Drama title sequences don't. Naturally, High School movies have around 20-25 credits in the opening credits.

 

The credits usually go in this particular order:

• Production Company/Distribution Comany

• High grossing actor

• Movie Title

• Producers

• Top Billing Actors

• Various crew members e.g. Director of Photography, Costume Designers, Music

• Executive Producers

• Director/Writer

 

 

The order of the credits is determined before the movie itself has even begun production. It has a lot to do with contractual and legal reasons, and decisions are made within the space of a few months. There are usually conflicts on whose name will be displayed first. As mentioned, it's very common for teen movies to have 20-25 opening credits. For example - Mean Girls, 10 Things I Hate About You, and Clueless

 

Music is also an important factor in title sequences.The majority of high grossing title sequences are usually accomponied by appropriate music which sets the tone, mood and atmosphere of the movie and interacts with the audience; this is a very important factor. Title sequences can vary in realtion to imagery i.e. what they show however music is almost always present. Some teen dramas do have animated title sequences e.g. Juno, however the majority are over moving images.

 

We are introduced to the main characters during a title sequence, and also we are made aware of the setting. For example, usually we are in the main characters bedroom; or we have a long shot of a city to establish the location for the audience to be made aware of the time of day, where in the world we are etc.

      Mise en scene will also be able to tell us a lot about the character and is very important in a title sequence. Lighting is important for the setting of the mood and also for the time of day; whether it is natural or artificial tells us a lot about the kind of movie it will be. Also, clothing will tell us about the character; the way a character in the sequence is dressed will address us to their social group and also age group.

 

Furthermore, camera work is a very important aspect of a title sequence. Camera work in a high grossing title sequence will have a variety of shots from different angles and distances - whereas a low grossing title sequence will generally not have as many shots and also will not have as good technology. For example, a lot of the camera work in a low grossing movie will be hand held. At the beginning of a title sequence we usually see a lot of close ups.

      For example, we are introduced to a lot of close ups of objects which give us hints about the movie or maybe about a character in the movie. If we are given close ups of objects in a certain characters room those close ups will give us hints on what they are like - maybe even what the storyline will be about. We can tell from a few shots if the person is messy, tidy etc. which gives us a perspective of the character and sets the mood.

 

Genre is also an important aspect of a title sequence; the genre is supposed to be set during the sequence through all of the aspects mentioned above. Setting, music, mise en scene are all important conventions which will let us know about the genre of the movie.

 

EXAMPLE: A classic opening of movie(particulary teen drama - sub genre: high school) is a long shot/bird's eye view of a city - to establish the location and setting. We are then taken to a street or a house where we enter the characters bedroom, as a start of the day. We are introduced to the main character, where we also see a few close ups of their bedroom and their possessions. There is usually an indication on what their interests are and what social group they are in. We may or may not be introduced to family members. In school we then get a classic shot of the school hallway and lockers where we meet other main characters. The sequence ends with a classic school bell ring, indicating class and the start of the day. This is all backed up by pop music from an appropriate song which usually fits the mood.

 

High-school sub genre

 

The high school sub-genre we chose for our title sequence is very similar to what the genre of teen dramas reflects and presents in a title sequence. Although our storyline is slightly different and unique it still follows the general aspects of a high school title sequence.

High school title sequences tend to have coming of age storylines, which a lot of the target audience can relate to, which is something we tried to do in our title sequence. We also tried to portray the cliques and stereotypes as you would in a teen drama.

 

In our sequence we portrayed our main character as a jock/sporty boy with the ambition of getting a scholarship. We also had his friends, who were dressed similarly to him and his girlfriend who was dresses as popular girls do in high school movies.

Our music was made to fit to the mood, it started off very quiet and sad and then we had a transmission of not only music but character which was shown through mise en scene and music.

 

Influences

 

Our influences were from movies such as Clueless, Grease, Mean Girls, Princess Diaries, The Breakfast Club and American shows such as Revenge and Pretty Liars. You can see the reasons why they have influenced us on our blog.

 

     Transformation: the transformation was influenced by the Princess Diaries, Mean Girls, Grease and others

 

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             Costumes: the costumes were mainly influenced by Clueless - Cher's clothing and from The Breakfast Club

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

          The idea of a double life was taken from TV shows such as Revenge and Pretty Little Liars; also from Mean Girls.