The document summarizes the opening of a science fiction film called "Lab Rat". The opening takes place in a science facility and introduces the main characters, who are scientists discussing artificial intelligence. Elements like the white walls, lab coats, and science-related title and dialogue are used to establish the sci-fi genre. Special effects were limited but included titles fading in to set the tone and suggest tension. The opening sets up the story of a malfunctioning AI taking over the facility.

1. Question 1: In what ways does your product use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
For the first question of my evaluation I have chosen nine different screens
from my film and decided to analyse them. This will allow me to link my
film opening to my chosen genre of Sci-Fi.
Title of the film
My film is set in a science facility conducting various different tests for
multiple different reasons. The title of Lab Rat lets the audience know it is
a film that is going to feature science. This topic lets the audience know
that the film will be a sci-fi as the topic of science is rarely explored in other
genres. Lab rat is also a common saying to describe someone who is always
being given tests or being tested upon. This is a foreshadowing for what is
to come in my film, which also helps the audience identify what they are
going to watch and hopefully bring in more viewership at the same time.

2. Camerawork and Editing
For the camerawork and editing of my film opening, there was not a great
deal. The opening did not feature a traditional conversation so I could not
include techniques such as the 180 degree rule. Editing wise, I decided to
include a lot of fade in and outs during the robots speech to accentuate
confusion and fear in my film. A lot of Sci-Fi films include an element of
horror so I found it appropriate to include this in parts of my film.
Title font and Style
The title I chose for my film opening was a fairly easy task. I have made the
text bold and white to refer to the facility my opening takes place in. The
white adds to the ‘clean’ feeling of a sci-fi film that one would see in either
science facilities or the inside of a spaceship. I made the effect of a fade in
on the text to add to the mysterious and tense situation my characters
were in. I then finished with a streak of light that’s sweeps across the title
to add to the ‘metallic’ feel that a lot of sci-fi films give.

3. Story and how the opening sets it up
My story starts just before a malfunctioning Artificial Intelligence takes
over a science facility. This shows the audience from the start what sort of
film they are watching. Around halfway in the opening there is a sudden
change of pace to keep the audience interested and engaged from the
start. Most science fiction films I have researched have something go
wrong fairly early into the film with lots of action to accompany it. I have
taken advantage of this research and put in a mix of tension and action
that is expected from a sci-fi film like mine.
Genre and how the opening suggests it
I have used many methods to show what genre my film opening is due to
the research I did during my pre-production. The most obvious point that
helps identify the genre of my opening would be the lab coat costumes
which help relate the opening to sci-fi. The colours I used throughout the
film (white, blue) and the actual title of the film (Lab Rat) also help identify
the genre as a sci-fi.

4. How characters are introduced
The characters of my film are all introduced at the same time as each other
due to them all being in a meeting at once. Their names are never
mentioned in the opening as all but one was going to die and therefore
would waste time in my opening. They are all shown as intelligent
scientists due to them wearing lab coats and discussing the idea of artificial
intelligence. This lets the audience know what kind of people they are
looking at almost as soon as you see them in the opening.
Special Effects
I did not include many special effects in my film opening due to simply not
needing them for what I wanted to achieve. Most of the special effects I did
use were for the titles. It took a long time to get them right as I wanted them
to fade in at the exact time I needed them to. The music and sound effects
were very important to my opening as it helped set the tone of the film and
possibly even the genre at some points. The hardest effect to get right were
the titles at the end appearing as I added the glass smashing sound effect.
When I got it right I felt it added a lot of atmosphere to my film opening.

5. Setting/Location
I chose a white-wall setting for my evaluation to accentuate the fact the
film is set in a science facility. Almost every film in my research features
white walls which is a tell-tale sign of a sci-fi film. The wide open staircase
in this shot made the set look bigger than it was giving the feeling of a
massive facility instead of a small corridor and staircase.
Costumes and props
My film opening was set in a science facility, so the lab coats all my actors
were wearing were essential. This also made the audience aware that the
genre was sci-fi, due to the fact that lab coats are rarely found in any other
genre. As for props, there weren’t a lot apart from a pen to make the
actors look like they were taking notes, and the computers set up with the
science facility’s logo in the background.