Evaluation 1

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


We spent a lot of time looking at the forms and conventions of the romance genre in order to conform to some but also to challenge and develop them in some ways.
We have used the typical conventions of the tragic romance genre in that our plot follows this idea:

In Todorov’s terms the narrative is structured as follows:

1. a state of equilibrium at the outset
2. a disruption of the equilibrium by some action
3. a recognition that there has been a disruption
4. an attempt to repair the disruption
5. a reinstatement of the equilibrium

Thesis > Antithesis > Synthesis

We have a clear beginning, the state of equilibrium, where Alice and George are happy; there is then a disruption of the equilibrium, caused by George's car accident, resulting in death; there is then a recognition of this disruption, where Alice spends a long time unhappy; Alice then attempts to repair the disruption by pursuing the dream George had for her; there is then a clear reinstatement of equilibrium when Alice gets a job working with her clothing designs. 

In this respect, our plot conforms to the conventions of the genre in real media. Our trailer reflects this.

Within the trailer, we have also followed the conventions of a romance movie trailer quite closely. When the mood is light hearted the mis-en-scene reflects this as the colours are saturated and the sun is shining - we reviewed the weather forecast before-hand so we could choose and day to film that was sunny; we also carefully selected light-hearted happy music that enhances the mood (Noah And The Whale- Five Years Time); the camera movements used an very quick with the transitions between clips also being fast; the camera is positioned mainly at mid-height, showing a comfortable viewing image for the audience; the two characters share the same amount of screen time, showing they are equal and equally important.

As the mood of the trailer changes, we changed to colours to be more de-saturated and dull, we made the camera movements slower as well as changing to speed of the transitions. The camera shots are of Alice from above, looking down, showing that she has been beaten down by George's death.

When the mood becomes more positive again the colours revert back to being lighter and saturated, and we begin to film Alice using mid-shots and long-shots again, showing that she has overcome the hardship.

Our romance trailer also conforms to the conventions of a romance trailer in real media by having a voice-over. We used a strong male voice to deliver the important information and the end of the trailer, however we asked him to use a soft tone when speaking to show that the film is a romance.

However, we have also used conventions no commonly used within a typical romance trailer. We used hand-held camera work. This technique normally used and is more associated with the horror genre used in such films as 'The Blair Witch Project' and the 'Paranormal Activity' trilogy. Similarly to these films, we used it to involve the viewer within the film, particularly the strong relationship between Alice and George.

Our poster challenges typical romance films posters within the media, in that it is landscape. Film posters of most genres are usually in a portrait view. We decided to challenge this convention because when we working the the poster we found that our picture worked best in a landscape view. By putting it into a landscape view it also stands out. The layout we used is eye pleasing, the eye is naturally drawn to the centre therefore George and Alice are in the centre and are the focal point. 

We have conformed to the conventions of a typical romance poster in that we have put a couple in an embracing position. By having Alice and George in this position and with them smiling the viewer automatically sees that they are a couple who are in love. Love is an obvious element to a romance.

The title of the film is bold and the biggest. We used black as it contrasts with the background making it stand out. We also included other information such as when the film would be in the cinema (we chose for it to be valentines day, as we thought it would be an appropriate date for a romance, and it would draw in a bigger crowd of couples going to the cinema), the directors, the actors, a quote from the film and a quote from a magazine. A quote from the film conforms to the conventions of a romance poster in the media as it is generally used within romance posters and often becomes a slogan or catchphrase of the film. We used Adobe Fireworks to blur the background so that Alice and George and the writing would be the focal point. In this respect we have followed the conventions of a romance genre.

We have mainly conformed to the forms and conventions of the romance genre with the magazine cover. The main feature is a picture of the main character from a scene in the film.

We followed a basic layout of a generic film magazine, the name of the magazine is at the top, and then the segments are placed around the character. We chose segments relating to the romance genre, including and interview with the director of 'When Harry Met Sally', a popular romance film. We also included some free promotional gifts advertised. 

We found it difficult to follow conventions for a romance magazine cover, as not many film magazines advertise romance films, however by analysing other film genre magazine covers we developed out own idea of what it should look like to advertise the film effectively.