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1. Question 1: In what ways does your product use, develop or challenge forms
and conventions of real media products?
For my openingsequence Iwantedtomake sure Iinvolvedasmanyformsandconventionsintoitas
possible thatwouldhelpdeterminetothe audience whatgenresmyfilmare andintroduce people
and contextincertainways.
Story and how the opening sets it up
The story of my filmisaboutthis
con-artist(Hustler) whocreatesthis
scheme toget involvedwithtwo
different,dangerous,well-known,
rivalrygangsbut to trickboth gangs
and actuallytake mostof their
fortunes,withoutgettingcaughtor
knownthat he isdoingthis.So,with
my openingIwantedittobe a flash
forwardof a scene or eventthat
happensmuchlaterinthe story,
but the audience don’tknowthisuntil the endof the openingsequence whenitsays“6 months
earlier”.Myfirstscene isa movingshotof an unknownmanwalkingintoahouse,Ithinkshowing
thisfirstaddssuspense andthe unknowntothe audience.Theydon’tknow whohe is,where they
are etc.Thencuttingto a longshotof the locationthengivesalittle more detail of the storytothe
audience andIdo thisagain bythenhavingthe gun shots,title andthenfinallyintroducingthe
mysteriousman(whoitthe maincharacter).I thinkslowlydripfeedingpartsof the story a bitat the
time makesitmore excitingforthe audience andpossiblyeasierforthemtoeventuallyfollow along
and doesn’tleave anarrative enigma.
Genre and how the opening suggests it
Firstly,one of mygenresitfallsunderisthrillerandIfeel myfilmsuggeststhisastypicallythriller
filmstorylinesare createdtomake youthinkand understandharderconcepts,that’swhytheir
aimedat an olderage.So,withmy openinghavingthissuspenseandamore unknownstorymeans
that the audience have tostart usingtheirbrainstobeginwithtowork outwhat’shappening.Ialso
classedmyfilmasdrama, as these filmsare typicallymore seriousandIbelieve myfilmisandyou
are able totell duringthe openingsequence due tobloodbeingusedandfighting(gunshots).

2. How characters are introduced
My maincharacter,Charlie Green,isproperly
introduced(seenproperly) ataround20
secondsintothe opening,afterthe title.When
he is seenleavingthe house,Idecidedtostart
the musichere to helpintroduce mycharacter.
The lyricsin the songare thingslike “lookat
me,whatdo you see,abad mutha” andI think
helpsdescribe mymaincharacterperfectly.
The way he starts smokingthe cigarette and
starts walkingtohiscar I thinkalsohelpsto
introduce himself asthiscarefree personandIthinkitbringsshockto the audience asthisiswhathe
seemslike afterbasicallyassassinatingsome people.Whenthe voice overstartsitalsohelpsto
introduce the charactermore as the audience now know whathe soundslike andcanstart making
assumptionsandfigure outpossiblysome backgroundof whohe ise.g.Britishdue tohisaccent.
The title of the film
Firstly,the title of myfilmdoesnotappearuntil
about22 secondsintothe openingsequence,I
decidedtodothisso that there issome story at
the start before itgetsintothe mainpart. The
fontstyle andcoloursI chose were blackand
gold,I thoughtusingdarkercoloursgivesthe
impressionthatit’smore of a seriousfilm.Using
the goldencolourisrelevanttothe filmasit’s
aboutmoneyand goldisseenas a colour
categorisedwithwealthe.g.agoldbar (money).
The title ‘HustlersScheme’alsotiesinwiththe contextof the film.A hustlerisashrewdor
unscrupulouspersonwhoknowshowtocircumventdifficulties,andthisiswhatmy maincharacter
isin myfilm.Scheme issomethingthatsomeone hasplannedorarranged,soagainthisiswhat my
maincharacter doesso youhave the relevance with the contextandthe title andaudiencesmaybe
able to figure itoutbefore evenwatching it,sotheyhave anideawhatit’sabout.
Setting/location
For my setting,Iwantedittobe
somewhere thatisn’tverypublic,sowhere
I locatedithad to have thisfeature.Ialso
wanteditto be at a house as thisisan
importantpart of my story.I feel thatinmy
openingsequence there isalotof brick
workin the scenese.g.the brickworkof
the house and there’sascene where my
maincharacter walkspasta brickwall.I
thinkthismakesitquite urbanand addsan
emphasisof the gangsteratmosphere tothe sequence.Havingamore desolatedlocationtostart

3. withgivesaneerie moodasthe audience mustfeel thatnoone will reallyfindoutaboutwhat’s
happenedasthere’snoone towitnessitandI thinkthishelpstofitthe storyintoa drama/thriller
genre as conventionsinvolvedwiththose genresfollow similarstorylinesforexample,investigations
happeningandaction.
Costumes and props
Choosingmycostumesandpropsis a veryimportantaspectas theyhave to helpthe storyand
contextof the film.So,havingmymain
character beingthissuperior,gangster
personwouldmeanIhave to make sure
he lookslike one wouldandact like it.I
decidedtohave himdressedinsmartbut
casual clothing,shirtandjeansand a
typical long,gangstercoat,whichinfilms
like snatchetc.there gangstercharacters
tendto wear. Propslike acigarette and
fake bloodalsoaddsto hischaracter and
the audience cansee and determinewhat
thispersonislike orwhat he’sdone.
Camerawork and editing
WhenfilmingIwantedtomake
sure I got plentyof shotsthat
wouldbe of my maincharacter and
followinghimashe leavesthis
crime scene thathe has justcaused
such as close up,mid-shots,pan
shotsetc. DoingthisI feel willhelp
explainmystorymore,even
thoughit’snot beentoldthe
audience maypossiblybe able to
figure itoutvisually. Whenitcame
to editingmostshotsflowedwell
and workedwell whenIputthem
intoslowmotion. Iwantedtoput it intoslow motionasI feel thiswouldmake myopeningscene
more effectiveanditworkedreallywell whenputtingitwithmymusicanddialogue.However,with
my dialogue itcouldhave beenalotcleareroverthe musicas it wasa quite hardto hearat some
points.Butotherthan that I thinkitwas spokenverywell bythe actor,he put ona goodcockney
accent.