AS MEDIA evaluation Question 1 answer

2. A) Introduction
B) How have you emulated your research findings in your production?
C) How have you departed from or challenged your research findings?
D) What about the forms and conventions of title and opening
sequences, referring back to your research.

3. > The genre of our opening sequence is a ‘Psychological-spy’ genre. This
is represented in our opening sequence through a variety of
psychological-spy features such as ‘The Anarchist’ and how this character
sends taunting messages to the male protagonist (Maxwell). As previously
mentioned we have taken inspiration from other films in similar genres
such as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Joker. Examples would be how
we took the savagery and virtues of the joker while we took aspects of
blue filters and seriousness from the Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy film.

4. Firstly, my group and I did both
primary research through an
interview and a questionnaire
and secondary research through
websites such as YouGov,
Wikipedia and other websites
such as Rotten Tomatoes to get
our much needed information.
Through our interview with
the teachers who were movie
fanatics was the binding and
intertwining the three sets of
scenes. This was specially in
mind during the editing
because we had to cut each
scene concerning each
character and make sure it
made sense even in parts.
An example would be how we
had to clearly portray that
Maxwell was running to save the
person who was hostage, the
Anarchist was watching the
whole thing unfold and that
Linda was being held hostage.
We had to make sure that there
was a distinction between these
sets of scenes but holistically
come together as one
continuative narration.

5. Another part of the research
that was swiftly emulated in our
production was the type of
music and the genre of the
music that was going to be
applied in our opening
sequence. Whether it was
diegetic or non-diegetic or if we
were going to have music at all.
This was a very important area
where I thought it could go
horribly wrong or just amazing
due to the atmosphere that it
would create. Most people in
the questionnaire suggested
that we choose a fast song such
as the Eye of the Dragon from
Rush Hour.
The final decision, however,
was to just add a ticking down
sound from the beginning of
the opening sequence even
before any visuals come up to
nicely set up the tone of the
scenes up to the point where
the bomb suggestively blew up
Linda. I felt that this was very
effective indeed as it added a
serious undertone and kept
the enigma high.

6. What
aspect did
we depart
of challenge
The Anarchist
Maxwell
The
Protagonists
The Music
The Pace

7. The Anarchist
What we actually did:
We just completely departed from the research
findings from the questionnaire because we
thought that it was too predictable and overdone
where the antagonists are ‘the evil’ one, stoking a
cat. We wanted to break this convention so we
decided that the antagonist would actually be a
beautiful woman who has a point and where her
actions can be justified as she’s fighting for
something that is morally correct but through a
manner that isn’t.
What research said:
One of the aspects that we asked during
our questionnaire was what they would
expect from the antagonist. A lot of their
answers were along the same line by
expecting the antagonist to have some sort
of physical deformity or something that
doesn’t look good. During our interview, Ms
Carr pointed out that she’d expect a normal
villain who is almost deranged but would
like to see a very intelligent villain instead.

8. Maxwell
What research said:
Research expected a very suave, intelligent
and good looking main protagonist who is
Maxwell in our opening sequence. The
questionnaire wanted him to be some sort
of superhero. While, on the other hand, the
interview gave us a different perspective by
advising us to make him more complex and
an actual human with flaws, which people
can emphasise with.
What we actually did:
We decided to make him a more complex character
which could be seen in the opening sequence
where he seemed very flustered and one step
behind the Anarchist. Maxwell is portrayed as
emotionally unstable and rash with his actions
while the Anarchist on the other hand is calm and
collected, directly contrasting from each other. This
challenges the general public of what they expect,
again, breaking conventions. We did keep him as a
white upper class male in line with conventions and
norms especially in this genre.

9. The
Protagonists
What research said:
The people who answered our
questionnaire wanted some sort of
romance in the plot which I inferred would
have to be between the protagonists such
as Bond and his ladies.
What we actually did:
During our planning for the plot and pitch to our
producers we had to straighten out the ‘bits and
bobs’. We were first of all going to make Maxwell
and Linda be husband and wife such as Mr and Mrs
Smith but then we re-evaluated and figured that
we might have been sued with a lawsuit for copying
their idea. So we decided to again, break the
normal conventions of love interest to Maxwell
being Linda’s brother instead. Most recently, I have
actually noticed that more and more films are
focusing on bonds between siblings such as the film
Frozen or the Divergent series.

10. The Music
What research said:
As I previously mentioned, there was a
mixture of answers on what the music
should be for the opening sequence and
this was due to how much choice we had.
We could have used diegetic or non-
diegetic sound, voice overs or dubbing.
Some people who answered by saying
classical music or hip-hop music
What we actually did:
We originally wanted to play classical music to break
some convention of the usual fast track music in
opening sequences for spy films. However, we
realised that our genre is more specifically a
psychological spy film and also noticed that even
other genres such as action are using 70s or 60s
classical music hits. An example would be Guardians
of the Galaxy where they didn’t use modern music,
which appealed to older audiences. So in conclusion,
we decided for a time ticking down to suggest the
reality of the bomb and to create enigma which suits
our genre and creates the perfect atmosphere.

11. The Pace
What we actually did:
We decided that having a fast paced opening
sequence would mean a lot of action, which
wouldn’t be a very good quality product due to the
equipment we have and budget (£0) that we have
to work with. In addition to that, we also came
across the opening sequence of the film ‘Se7en’
which was very simple and eerie, creating an
atmosphere that complimented our chosen genre.
So we took inspiration from that film, suggestion
from our interview participants and decided to
depart from the conventional linear pace of spy
films.
What research said:
In all seriousness, the participants in our
questionnaire were a little confused with
this question. I admit, it was badly worded
but some did understand the question and
replied that they actually wanted fast paced
opening sequences. This would be the
norm for spy movies. In the interviews,
however did talk about how it would be
really effective for a psychological spy film
to have a variety of pace to both create
mystery and raise the heart rate.

12. Our title and opening sequence is very simplistic and gets to the point of narration, enabling the
audience to jump right in the middle of the action. Taking inspiration from our secondary research
from the opening sequence of ‘SE7EN’, we took close up shots of Linda’s situation and only revealed
the bigger picture later, creating enigma and building suspense. Due to my group’s wealthy
knowledge of different films in different genres, we talked about adding something more modern in
the opening sequence. This therefore led us to using text messaging titles and incorporate that with
the plot, which isn’t as high quality as I wanted or wished for but does do the job.