Evaluation Question 1

Evaluation Question 1

• 1.
  EVALUATION QUESTION 1 In whatways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media?
• 2.
  Why crime? I’ve alwaysbeen a big fan of the crime genre; favourites being Pulp Fiction and The Wolf of Wall Street. My love for this genre allowed me to stay entertained and interested during my research and production. I enjoyed the idea of youth being involved in crime whilst also being pulled in the direction of maintaining their education and social life.
• 3.
  Research The crime genrehas become more and more popular of the last 30 years with notable directors such as: Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorcese playing a large role in the genre’s development and popularisation. Common themes in crime genre tend to be gangster/mafia flicks, coming-of-age anarchism and drug-fueled violence. Extending it’s reach to video games and TV series, crime has certainly established itself as a dominant genre. As the audience, we are often put in the position of sympathising with the criminals; as they are often the anti-heroes of the story. Take Danny Ocean and his rag-tag team in Ocean’s 11; they are quite clearly breaking the law, however we are made to support their actions because of their lead roles and story. I found that using young, teenage males as my protagonists would allow for my target audience to relate with them easily. I found that the crime genre was more related to the male demographic; primarily because of the stereotypical ‘manly’ lead roles.
• 4.
  For my openingsequence, I decided to condone the trope of ‘anti-heroes’ in crime films. I aimed for the target audience to feel sympathy for the crime- driven protagonist and support his story. This is a feature seen in many crime films, thus providing many examples. In Wolf of Wall Street, the audience see Jordan Belfort as the hero of the story, despite his massive history of crime. The FBI are put in an antagonistic position. Similarly, in Ocean’s 11, the team pulling off the heist are made out to be the heroes of the story despite breaking the law.
• 5.
  Characterisation I wanted tomake my protagonist a young, white male living in the working-class north. Similar to a youth you would find in late 80s-early 90s in a working class society. I wanted to present the youngsters in my opening sequence as carefree, crime-driven characters escaping from the stress of ‘fitting-in’ and pressure to succeed. I feel like, to deliver this message, any other race/gender/social class would not have been as effective.
• 6.
  The age andattitudes of my protagonists would allow my target audience to relate to characters on a personal level; as well as presenting the demographic effectively. With crime films/TV Series/Video Games primarily targeting audiences of 15+, enabled for more effective representation and relatability to the audience. My analysis of crime opening sequences (Trainspotting and Goodfellas) often showed white males in the leading roles. This is also evident in films and TV such as This is England, The Sopranos and Snatch.
• 7.
  Conventions The protagonist, beingthe main subject in the film, was put in the position of the ‘anti-hero’. I adhered to this convention to give a level of relatability and sympathy to the character; enabling the audience to associate with the character on a personal level.