This document discusses how the author's media product uses and challenges conventions of action film openings. It analyzes conventions around editing, sound, camera shots, lighting, actors, makeup, props, setting, costumes, and how the author's opening challenges some conventions but meets others. For example, it uses slow pacing and music where action openings typically use fast pacing and sounds of guns/explosions. It aims to be unique while still evoking feelings of the action genre.

1. By Hadley Stones
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge
forms and conventions of real media products?

2.  Conventions are what we expect to see in a
film opening and what makes a film opening
a certain genre. We then look to see if those
conventions are stereotypically met or if they
are challenged.
 For example in a action film you mainly
expect to see an event happen with big
explosions guns and fast paced editing and
music to kick off most action films.

3.  Editing in most action films is fast paced and has
many cuts to make it fast paced and will occasionally
have some slow motion put in there to make it
dramatic. However with some action films you aren't
thrown straight into the action and it starts off very
slow paced and not a lot happens.
 With our media product its starts of very slow editing
and a few cuts as we want there to be action but want
it to be slow and suspenseful and make it
unpredictable unlike other openings of this genre and
this is why we decided to challenge the stereotype of
a traditional action film opening making it slow paced
but with a action involved.

4.  The sound used mainly at the start of action films if it
decides to start all guns blazing is mainly fast paced and
gets you in the mood for an action film or can show pain
and suffering in a film opening to show death and anarchy.
This is usually backed up by hearing gun shots or
explosions in the background to make an action feel to it.
 However with our film we decided to make it slow music
and enigmatic non diegetic music over the top as well as a
narrative which explains everything that has happened and
we feel this challenged the stereotype of a an action
opening because mainly the action is explain after the
opening but we decided to explain it before any action
really took place. As well we decided not to put in any
background sound, just the narrative , the dialogue and
the gun shot at the end.

5.  The camera shots in most action cases start with an
establishing shot to show the location and then a
shot which easily locates the main character or
characters and who we should be focusing on. This is
usually followed by a tracking shot or mid shot of
what they are against.
 With our film opening we decided the first shot would
not be in chaos and would be the car driving up a hill
and be quite chilled out to set a mood and the
camera shots such as tracking shots and pans make
the film flow a lot better at the start and there are
never really that many close up shots as the main
characters identity is hidden.

6.  The lighting used in many of the film openings
are high key and natural lighting however there
are many instances that are shown in dark places
or at night which portray negative emotions and
bad things happening .
 With ours we decided o film at dusk so that we
could have a low key lighting feel to it but as
time foes on high key lighting shows through
and makes a two lighting effect as we also filmed
under the shade of the satellite dishes with the
high key light of the sun shining through. With
this we met the convention of action films with
lighting.

7.  The actors used in action films are rarely very
young and usually contain mid aged to older
adults because this helps the feel of an action
film and would be ruined if the characters were
played by kids and not adults.
 But with our film we had characters played by
teenagers so we had to pick the right actors to
play these characters so it didn’t ruin the feeling
of the film and put people of who could clearly
see that they were kids and that is where we went
against the stereotype of many action films as we
used teenagers as the actors instead of adults.

8.  The make up used in action films is usually
comes of the effect of what they have just been
doing such as in a fight then they will have blood
on there face. However action films that start of
slow paced will have barely any make up involved
as it is not needed to signify anything.
 With our film opening we decided to meet the
slow paced action start to make up as we didn’t
have to use any because of the 4 mercenaries
wearing masks to cover there identity and the
hostage didn’t need make up.

9.  The props stereotypically used in action films are
guns, knives and other weapons of sort, or some
important object that will appear in the rest of the
film.
 In our film we decided to stereotypically meet the
prop convention in action films with using guns some
on show and some not on show for enigmatic
purposes. The main gun we used needed to look real
or it would ruin the feeling of the theme. Another key
prop we used was the masks, the masks we used
where to hide the identity of the group and also
helped us hide the actors faces as well as they
brought enigma to the scene they also helped hide
the age of the younger two actors used.

10.  The setting traditionally used in action films are
usually big buildings or city streets to give of this
sense of struggle and anarchy with burning buildings
all around or if it’s a slow paced start it would just be
a family home showing the main character and
introducing him.
 The setting we used was my favourite part of the film
as we decided to tie in the post apocalyptic disaster
genre in with eh action setting as we decided to put a
baron wasteland look and old broken satellite dishes
which look like they came down during the chaos
which is mentioned in the narrative before. In doing
this we met the conventions of the disaster genre but
challenged the action genre.

11.  The costume traditionally used in film openings of
our chosen genre is army or uniforms of power and
status to show who the character is and what they
mean to society however in some action films we see
normal person in clothes which aren't special become
the hero and then mean something to society.
 With our film opening we decided to give our 4
“heroes” wasteland clothing as there costumes and
the hostage they were in possession of a suit to meet
the stereotype of a “bad guy” in these genres and also
the thoughts that he is a business man,. We felt this
challenged the stereotype with the mercenaries but
met the stereotype with the hostage.

12.  Overall our media product challenged the
conventions of the action genre however also
met a few which we though was important as
we also stuck to the key thoughts and
feelings of the action genre or it would look
like an action film. With the many
conventions we decided to challenge we
thought they were effective as it gives the
opening that little bit different to all the rest
and make it unique enough to catch the
target audiences attention.