In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Within any opening sequence there are many conventions that will highlight what genre the film is and make sure that the audience know that it is a opening sequence and not a trailer. Conventions such as titles are used in an opening sequence to make sure the theme, mood and setting of the film is portrayed from the start and gives a real indication of how the film is going to be from then on out. A perfect example of this is Django: Unchained, in this opening sequence the titles are given a western feel and also are made to look like they are old, this is to set the scene and show the audience in which time period the film is going to be set. These titles are a good example as they are different to normal titles which mean they stand out a lot more and also fit the genre of action extremely well, as well as setting the scene the titles also give the film a gritty feel which links to the film later on as the film does involve a lot of violence and blood.Another convention of opening sequences is an establishing shot, establishing shots are used in the opening sequence to make the audience realise where the film will be set throughout the rest of the film. An establishing can be used can also set the tone and mood for the rest of the film because if the establishing shot was of an old creepy warehouse or abandoned building then you would expect the film to be a horror movie or a thriller as this type of building would be seen in these genres.
As well as this, close ups are another convention of an opening sequence. close ups can be used in two ways, theses are to highlight who the main characters are or to make a character obscure and hide from the camera. This keeps the audience guessing who that character is and makes the audience want to keep watching the film, as well as this close ups are used to connote the genre that they are in like extreme close ups are used more in action-adventures and thrillers whereas close ups are just used in dramas to show a key moment within the film.
Production idents are a convention of opening sequences, Production Idents are there to show the audience who produces the film, this is also there to make the company gain publicity and show directors which production company to use, that if the film suits there budget and genre.
Main characters are introduced in the opening sequence so that the audience can recognise who they are and are familiar with them throughout the rest of the film. main characters are important In an opening sequence as the main protagonists and antagonists need to be shown so that the audience know who to support for the remainder of the film. It is key that they are shown at the start as they are the most important people in the film so it wouldn't make sense if they were introduced 10 minutes in because then the audience would be confused as the timing would be off.
