This is Alan, he is in his mid-teens and is in secondary school, due to his age he is beggining to be more appreciative of more intelligent humour (though is not quite of the age when childish humour or toilet humour are lost on him). He is a fan of cult classic movies, comedies, action and science fiction films. He wears casual clothes and enjoys listening to underground music and hanging out with his friends.
How did we attract our target audience? (Watch the annotations)
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e of film openings)
I chose these nine screencaps as examples of how our film fits to the comedy conventions: the first has the typical overdramatic shot angle that's often used in cop parodies (like our own which is an almost cop parody with a twist), the second I chose because it shows the costume- a glorified school uniform done right up to the top button highlighting how anul the character of Alex is) and because it has the dramatic to camera swagger which is a common feature in comedy films in which the hero swaggers down the street believing he looks cool. The way in which we challenged average comedy film openings is through using young actors in the lead parts,, most comedy films have older actors playing their lead parts but we decided that as it is a film about young people we would use young people. Also it will allow us to connect to our target audience better as they will be able to identify with someone their own age.
The third I chose to use as it shows creative camera work; we toppled the camera after Daniels punch so that we could watch him walk away, this is also the kind of thing you would see in comedy films as they like to play up the drama/cool to ludicrous levels to rip on the action films conception of itself appearing cool when in fact people would never act like that in real life and so it only looks vaguely ridiculous. We also had the punch and address to camera as it is an example of breaking the fourth wall which is often used in comedies to show the audience that the film is self aware and should only be taken as a joke.
The fourth I chose to use as it sets up the action part of this action-comedy it also is reminsicent of the typical ridiculous chase scene that is a common feature in the comedy film. This one is particularly silly as it is a mature teenager chasing a little boy in the middle of the school and nobody stops them!
The fifth I chose as it is the introduction of Chris's character, his character is seen several times during the opening sequence- at every occasion being harassed by Daniel! This is a particular point of silliness as though Alex insists he is striving for justice he seems intent on bullying Chris! Also I like the fact that this scene appears to be particularly biased towards Alex's view of the world as here we see Chris cower in fear at him when in reality we have already seen that Alex has little power (we see this in the previous Mr Smith scene). I should also mention that the introduction of the female lead love interest character also is in this opening sequence though she only appears to dramatically sigh for a second, this is a rip on the way that female characters often seem to appear in action films to either get in the way and then fall modly in love with the lead male or be desperately in love with him but remain unacknowledged until the day is won and he has time for her.
The sixth I chose because it shows a classic cheesy moment as Alex does the cliche finger snap at the ladies, this sort of awkward humour is common in comedy features and the idea of a character who is often not loved by the ladies who is under the misconception that he is is also a common occurence in comedies.
The seventh is a section of the office scene between Mr Smith and Alex, I chose this as not only does it show our use of the over the shoulder shots but also sets up part fo the core drama of the film and gives the character od Alex osem emotional depth, it also introduces the character of the headteacher who will be one to further antagonise our unlikely hero throughout the course of the the film. It also adds a little risk as we are made aware that Alex doesn't not entirely get away with his behaviour and isn't perhaps as much viewed as a hero as he believes he is. what is humour without pathos? Aswell as that this scene makes particular use of music as as Alex gets up and begins to make his dramatic heroes speech drmataic heroes music begins to play in the backgorund which reaches its climax as he throws open the door to 'stare out into the night' like some kind of superhero watching over his city.
The eighth shows the main characters (Alex) sidekick Toms introduction. He is introduced in a rather dramatic but anti-climactic manner as he puts out his bag to knock down the fleeing student. I picked this particular shot as it highlights his morose and unimpassioned character, not only through his bored expression but through the use of a boring flat angle mid-shot, in great contrats to Alex's more frequently dramatic shots e.g the extreme low angles.
The final screenshot I have chosen is the titles, I have used bold red text to match the movie poster/logo art I did previous to shooting the opening sequence so as to keep a sense of regularity to the overall image of the film. Also the titles are animated and fly in from either side of the screen, meet, and pause in the middle then fly off once more, this is fittingly dramatic and appropriate for Alex,s character as he to is prone to the dramatic. Animated bold text is also seen in 'Zombieland' which is an action/horror/comedy.
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