Evaluation Question 1

Evaluation question one is:
In what ways do your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The Trailer

Part 1
The video I created below compares my trailer with various crime trailers, explaining how they conform to or challenge conventions and representations.

(https://youtu.be/6N-ttxWkQAk)


Part 2

In terms of challenging conventions, my trailer is subversive in that it features a mostly female cast and the actor playing Anon, the serial killer, is female. Although it could be argued that in my trailer the females featured are victims, it is not typically common for crime films to have characters where the majority of them are female and even our one visibly male character is a victim, making the representations of them fairly equal.

However, it could be inferred that the character Alice (third person in the image left) is a stereotypical representation of a lower-class woman, and is somewhat sexualised because she wears a provocative costume (short, lacy dress, black leather jacket, fishnet tights and heels). Furthermore, this class status is reinforced by her accent in the trailer and the phonetic divergences this causes. On the other hand, Alice could be interpreted as empowering and not as much of a victim as you'd think, as the actress performs her confidently. Similarly, George and Eve are presented through costume in a slightly masculine way; they wear hoodies and jeans with trainers and Eve appears dishevelled. More often than not, all female characters in crime films are as attractive as possible and objectified.

The fact that the actor playing Anon is female is subversive as usually, serial killer characters who give in to such destructive desires are masculine and dominating. Instead, here their gender is left unspecified; the distortion of the voice-over preserves their identity, and consequently the enigma of the trailer, intriguing the audience. Furthermore, the killer has an explained motive which is unusual for most crime films and is not purely giving in to a desire for carnage, communicated by the voice-over and prop photograph, making them more of a counter-type character, but an antagonist nevertheless. The voice-over itself could be considered as convention-breaking, as usually they present a protagonist's point of view as they attempt to overcome a great struggle, whereas here, it is the antagonist communicating his threatening world-view.


Our trailer perhaps conforms to conventions of the crime genre most in how it features the majority of the elements of the genre's repertoire. Firstly, in terms of typical locations:

We used a playground because in Britain where our film is set, these are typical locations for a druggie set-up or for 'chavvy' young adults to congregate, especially in the evening (although we chose to shoot in the daytime so it wouldn't be in use), making it quite suitable for our drug exchange scene with George and Alice. The relatively secretive, but informal, way in which the package is exchanged suggests the two characters are already acquainted, while communicating the illicit nature of the deal to the audience.

This location of an abandoned airfield, while not common to the crime genre entirely, gives the impression of a run-down place where druggies may meet up. Here, Eve appears dishevelled and sickly, which would repel the audience and make them uncomfortable, introducing a disconnect between the audience and the characters they may not relate to. However, this is not exactly a negative aspect, as my group mate and I had always stated we wanted the boundaries between the 'good side' and 'bad side' to be blurred and for the binary oppositions created to be confusing, giving an enigma for the audience to solve and enticing them to see the film. It therefore, rather bizarrely, appeals to either side of the moral spectrum, depending on whether an audience member wants the drug abusers or Anon to 'win'.

Secondly, my trailer features familiar iconography such as props:

Guns are an iconic symbol of crime films, as they are used in innumerable chase scenes, murder scenes, etc, by almost any type of character. What sets our film apart from the rest is that there is no evidence of any interference from the police and therefore no character to represent 'correct' morals and the law. This erases a possible binary opposition, blurring the lines even more and making the audience unsure of who to 'root for'. This shot is the last in the trailer and therefore has high-impact, as it seems as if Anon is directly threatening the audience with death. It is also left unclear which character Anon is pursuing at this point, and whether there will be any more revelations about their motivations for killing. Essentially, the prop gun is a clear symbol of death and gives the trailer a more perturbing atmosphere.

We also openly showed prop drugs such as cocaine and pills. This makes the genre of crime even clearer, as these are obviously illegal items. Interestingly, the lighting for the pills seems warmer in tone due to the sunlight and the hand shakes, suggesting a brighter escapism and implying these will get Eve, the character holding them, 'high'. Conversely, the shot of the cocaine on the right is colder in tone, implying a darker aspect of the narrative and drugs as a whole - possibly bringing us to Anon's point of view that these are sinful items and should be condemned. This darker turn is further expressed through George and Alice's dialogue as they begin to get suspicious of the disappearances of those in their druggie circle. In this, a typical narrative plot point is established as they must solve a mystery and figure out who the killer is (again reminiscent of the themes shown in film noir), although it is not entirely conforming to convention in that there is no representation of law and order: they are on their own.

Thirdly, we incorporated some approaches to micro features that are different from generic crime films, such as in cinematography and sound. Our trailer doesn't feature a lot of diegetic sound or foley sound effects and most scenes are left muted in a montage-style with the soundtrack being the main focus, whereas in a lot of crime trailers they will choose to feature exciting dialogue that has lots of exposition. Our approach was a lot different in that we wanted to maintain a sense of mystery and show that we are convention-breaking to generate interest. This approach can be seen in more independent, smaller films, such as the teaser trailer for A Monster Calls, in which there is hardly any dialogue at all besides one line spoken by the main protagonist and an off-screen voice-over.

In terms of cinematography, our trailer diverges from the norm because it is often quite artistic and unusually shot. For instance, this shot of a blood-covered hand dropping to the floor, while heavily implying death as many crime trailers do, has intense shallow-focusing and is clearly colour-graded to make the crimson blood striking against the blue hue the rest of the image has. This kind of creative expression is not often seen in crime films, at least not in mainstream films that tend to focus on the action in a scene with the camera positioned in a long-shot, so as to show explicit violence. The fact that this shot is at ground-level also positions the audience with the victim, making it all the more ominous. 

Overall, through these convergences and occasional divergences from the style of the crime genre, the audience gets a pleasurable viewing experience from the repetition of genre tropes they are familiar with and like, but also the added surprise of unexpected elements, making our trailer distinctive, unique and refreshing in its approach to convention.

Ancillary Tasks

Evaluation Question 1 (Ancillary Tasks) from GeorginaGilbey