The document discusses the choices made for an opening title sequence for an emotional drama film. It explores how the sequence follows conventions of the genre including using relatable costumes, settings, and characters. It also draws inspiration from films like What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Dead Poets Society, and Good Will Hunting that effectively use such conventions. The sequence aims to represent teenagers, the working class, and a reclusive director, as well as explore the social issue of fan culture.

1. By Emily Brigstocke
HOW DOES YOUR PRODUCT USE
OR CHALLENGE CONVENTIONS
AND HOW DOES IT REPRESENT
SOCIAL GROUPS OR ISSUES?

2. M Y T I T L E
S E Q U E N C E

3. GENRE
• My chosen genre was emotional drama, the plot of the film would follow the nephew of the
director, Eddie, who is put in charge of emptying his house following his death, he finds a play
titled ‘the complications of being Edward’, it is loosely based off his own family, Eddie sets out to
release this film.
• I also introduced elements of indie films, although I will primarily explore the conventions of
emotional dramas. As far as following indie film conventions, I wanted the film to represent a very
human story, and for it to appear almost handmade and personal
• I chose this genre because I wanted to explore the emotional depths that theses films gravitate
towards, however I chose not to dive straight into the drama in the opening title sequence, I simply
wanted to introduce the director to the audience and give some context for his life and the visual
style of the film.

4. INSPIRATIONS AND COMPARISONS
• I was loosely inspired by these films for my opening title sequence concept, these
are films that I am not only passionate about but ones that I think explore the
conventions of emotional dramas very well
• The films are
• What’s eating Gilbert Grape
• A star is born
• Dead Poets Society
• Good Will Hunting

5. DID I FOLLOW OR CHALLENGE
CONVENTIONS?
• I chose to primarily follow the conventions of emotional drama movies, I felt that all the
conventions would suit my title sequence
• With only two minutes of title sequence, I was not able to convey every convention, so I simply
focused on the four primary conventions, being…
• Costume
• Settings
• Characters
• Shots
• I have also included lighting although I have not focused on it

6. CONVENTIONS OF AN EMOTIONAL DRAMA
COSTUME
– EVERYDAY RELATABLE CLOTHING, EASIER TO EMPATHISE AND
CONNECT WITH CHARACTERS

7. HOW I UTILISED THESE
COSTUME CONVENTIONS
• For my title sequence, I used very down-to-
earth costumes, they are current and relatable.
• I got each of the cast members to pick an outfit
from their own wardrobe, so that they seemed
comfortable in the clothes.
• My target demographic for this film is people
from the ages of 16 to 30. This age group will
be able to relate to the characters and what
they are wearing.

8. CONVENTIONS OF AN EMOTIONAL DRAMA
• SETTINGS
• RELATABLE SETTINGS, DOWN TO EARTH, CLOSE-KNIT, SETTINGS SUCH
AS HOMES, WORKPLACES AND SCHOOLS

9. HOW I UTILISED THESE
SETTING CONVENTIONS
I used relatable settings such as a house in the
countryside, a living room, an office and a garden.
I chose settings that would seem familiar to my target
demographic, none of them are too unfamiliar to the
average person.
I chose to set the film primarily inside a house, so that the
audience can easily place themselves in that situation,
they find it relatable.

10. CONVENTIONS OF AN EMOTIONAL DRAMA
• CHARACTERS – RELATABLE CHARACTERS, EVERYDAY PEOPLE,
ORDINARY PEOPLE WITH ORDINARY JOBS/RELATIONSHIPS

11. HOW I UTILISED THESE
CHARACTER
CONVENTIONS
I used students from my school to play the
teenagers/students in my film, so that they would
be believable in their roles.
I used a primarily teenage cast so that my target
demographic (16-30) would be able to relate to
them.
The dialogue I used in my script was
conversational and natural so that the characters
were believable. Nothing controversial was said,
nobody was too outspoken, they all appear to be
regular students.
I based my characters off people I know in my life
so that my audience would be able to relate to
them on a personal level.

12. CONVENTIONS OF AN EMOTIONAL DRAMA
• SHOTS – MANY EMOTIONAL DRAMAS USE ESTABLISHING SHOTS AND
CLOSE-UPS, PRIMARILY CLOSE UPS BECAUSE THE AUDIENCE MOST
WANT TO WATCH PEOPLES EMOTIONS

13. HOW I UTILISED THESE
SHOT CONVENTIONS
I used many close ups in my title sequence to
display my characters reactions
I captured reactions displaying sadness, disgust,
shock and excitement.
I focused on capturing naturalistic reactions, as these
are the most relatable to my audience.

14. WHATS EATING GILBERT GRAPE
• This film follows a young man, named Gilbert and his
younger disabled brother, Arnie, we watch Gilbert juggle
taking care of his brother, grieving the loss of a healthy
family and experiencing a complex love life
• Release date – March 1994
• Director – Lasse Hallström
• Starring – Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio and Juliette
Lewis
• Awards – Most promising actor (CFCA), Best supporting
actor (NBRA)

15. PARALLELS BETWEEN MY TITLE
SEQUENCE AND THIS FILM
• COSTUME
• IN GILBERT GRAPE, THE COSTUMES ARE
UNDERSTATED, THEY SEEM VERY REGULAR, I
TRIED TO EMULATE THIS IN MY TITLE SEQUENCE
• I WENT FOR A CASUAL, DAY-TO-DAY LOOK WITH
HINTS OF ACADEMIA AND ARTISTIC
UNDERTONES
• I CHOSE MODERN CLOTHING LOOKS BECAUSE
MY FILM IS SET IN MODERN DAY AND I WANTED
THEM TO BE RELATABLE TO MY AUDIENCE
MY COSTUMES
THEIR
COSTUMES

16. DEAD POET’S SOCIETY
• This film follows a group of teenage boys who attend
school together, they meet an inspirational teacher who
changes their lives, however they all struggle with love lives,
school and friendships
• Release date – September 1989
• Director – Peter Weir
• Starring – Robin Williams, Ethan Hawke and Robert
Leonard
• Awards – Best Film (BAFTA), Best Original Score (BAFTA),
Best Foreign film, academy award for writing, Best film

17. PARALLELS BETWEEN MY
TITLE SEQUENCE AND
THIS FILM
• ESTABLISHING SHOTS
• A SIMILARITY BETWEEN MY TITLE
SEQUENCE AND DEAD POET’S
SOCIETY IS A USE OF ESTABLISHING
SHOTS TO ESTABLISH THE DARK,
ACADEMIC UNDERONES OF MY
SEQUENCE
• IN DEAD POET’S SOCIETY THEY USE
A SERIES OF ESTABLISHING SHOTS
TO DISPLAY THE SCHOOL SETTING
OF THE FILM, I EMULATED THIS BY
SHOWING MY AUDIENCE THE
HOUSE WHERE THE FILM WOULD BE
PRIMARILY SET
MY
SHOT
THEIR SHOT

18. GOOD WILL HUNTING
• This film follows a young man named Will, he comes from
a poor background even though he is a mathematical
genius, he starts taking therapy, falls in love and discovers
his mathematical knowledge
• Release date – March 1998
• Director – Gus Van Sant
• Starring – Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Robin Williams and
Minnie Driver
• Awards – Best writing (AA), Supporting actor (AA),
Breakthrough performer (BFCA), Best screenplay (GG),
Best original screenplay (CC), Best actor (BBE), etc.…

19. PARALLELS BETWEEN MY TITLE
SEQUENCE AND THIS FILM
• RELATABLE CHARACTERS
• STUDENTS ARE USED IN GOOD WILL HUNTING AS
RELATABLE CHARACTERS, I ALSO USED STUDENTS IN
MY TITLE SEQUENCE
• THE CHARACTERS USED IN GOOD WILL HUNTING SEEM
HUMAN AND RELATABLE, I TRIED TO EMULATE THAT IN
MY SEQUENCE
• I ATTEMPTED THIS THROUGH RELATABLE, MODERN
COSTUMING, MINIMAL MAKEUP AND
CONVERSATIONAL LANGUAGE
MY
CHARACTERS
THEIR
CHARACTERS

20. A STAR IS BORN
• This film is a love story between a troubled Rockstar and
an aspiring singer, it follows their relationship and her
blossoming success up until his death.
• Release date – October 2018
• Director – Bradley Cooper
• Starring – Stephany Germanotta (Lady Gaga), Bradley
Cooper and Sam Elliot
• Awards – Best actress (CC), Best original score (BAFTA),
Best cinematography (Satellite), Best performance (MTV &
TV), Best motion picture (satellite)

21. PARALLELS BETWEEN MY TITLE
SEQUENCE AND THIS FILM
• LIGHTING
• SOMETHING I WAS INSPIRED BY IN A STAR IS BORN
WAS THE USE OF NATURALISTIC, DIM LIGHTING
• THIS IS A CONVENTION OFTEN USED IN EMOTIONAL
DRAMAS, TO CREATE A MELANCHOLIC ATMOSPHERE
• I EMULATED THIS IN MY TITLE SEQUENCE TO CONVEY
THE DARK, ACADEMIC UNDERTONES OF THE FILM
MY
LIGHTING
THEIR
LIGHTING

22. REPRESENTATION OF SOCIAL
GROUPS AND ISSUES
• I chose to represent three social groups in my title
sequence
• Teenage students
• The working man
• The reclusive director
• And one social issue
• Fan culture

23. REPRESENTATION OF SOCIAL
GROUPS - STUDENTS/TEENAGERS
One social group I chose to
represent was teenagers/students
I represented these through
stereotypes, such as clothing,
appearance and attitude
TEENAGE CLOTHING –
I chose academic style for two
of the students and street-style
for the other two
TEENAGE ATTITUDE
I captured many
stereotypical
teenage reactions in
my title sequence

24. REPRESENTATION OF SOCIAL GROUPS -
THE WORKING MAN
I used a tour guide in
my title sequence to
represent the middle-
aged working man
I adhered to stereotypes
in this character,
through his clothing
and his lack of
understanding of the
teenagers
THE WORKING MAN
I put him in a formal outfit,
in a suit, with a clipboard
to convey his
professionalism

25. REPRESENTATION OF SOCIAL GROUPS -
THE RECLUSIVE DIRECTOR
Although we never meet
the director because he has
recently died, we meet him
through the mise-en-scene
I used a cluttered room to display his
reclusiveness, wine bottles to convey his
addictiveness, a small room to show
where he spent the end of his life and a
grand house to juxtapose this all

26. REPRESENTATION OF SOCIAL ISSUES –
FAN CULTURE
I chose to represent the
social issue of fan culture;
however, I chose to display
a positive representation
Primarily I represented fan culture
through the student's reactions,
especially Immie who I directed to be
the most excited to be there