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

Our final media product uses develops and challenges conventions of real media products.

Our film is a cross between a Teen drama and Gangster movie, these common films, however only a few are ever extremely successful so we needed to establish our genre while also developing on it.

An example of using conventions from Teen Gangster movies is the music that plays throughout the opening scene. In a lot of Teen Gangster movies they have rap, hip hop, dubstep or grime music playing through them. We used a well known song by Adele, Rollin’ in the Deep which would not fit into these genres of music. But we used the Jamie xx Remix, the remix gives the song a more street and urban feel to it. We also listened carefully to a number of songs thinking about the lyrics, genre and beat and decided this would provide the best for our opening all round.

We have then used a convention to create the enigma. In teen gangster films crime and trouble making are prominent, in the last frame we have it shows someone looking at Sam’s mansion from a distance. Then they quietly say ‘Look at that’ and then the shot falls and blurs. This uses the convention as someone is clearly not meant to be there and seems to have been caught this adds the extra enigma to the end of the opening scene.

Teen dramas often have the Jock and the underdog; however we have developed this to two young adults competing in the music industry. We have Sam, the cocky superstar and Tom the boy trying to break onto the scene. We have shown this in the opening scene by contrasting the twos lifestyles. We have shown Sam outside his Mansion and in the recording studio whereas Tom is in a block of rundown flats and walking through run down areas.

We have also developed conventions in our use of costumes; normally in these types of films you have characters in school uniforms and then the gangsters in hoodies and baseball caps. As we had developed the idea to the music industry we had Tom in the gangster clothing; a hoody, baseball cap and joggers, and Sam in a Shirt and Gilet.

In traditional Teen Gangster films Tom would be the top dog, an example of this is in the film Kidulthood. We have developed this as our storyline is the next level up.

Instead of:

School Kids < Gangster

We have developed it to

Wannabe Gangster < Superstar Rapper

Tom and Sam were both at the School Kids, Gangster level at one point but as they have grown up they have moved to the next level and Tom hasn’t grown up yet and is at the Wannabe Gangster level which isn’t the way to success which he craves.

We have also challenged some conventions normally the lighting is quite dull and dark, we have used this for the parts that Tom is in but in Sam’s parts the lighting is brighter and warmer. Although normally this doesn’t happen in Teen Gangster films we decided to do this to reflect Sam’s life compared to Tom’s. Sam lives the flamboyant lifestyle which reflects the warm bright lighting whereas Tom has to graft which reflects his dull cold lighting.