IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

USE

Before the filming of my film product I carried out research on trailers of inspirational sporting films and the various conventions used by their film institutions to make them successful products. These films included: Rocky Balboa, The Fighter and Warrior and Raging Bull.

There are a variety of different trailer lengths and these include teaser trailer consisting of around 30 seconds with an average full-length trailer ranging from 1 and a half minutes- 2 minutes. My trailer is going to be between 1 and 2 minutes and this applies to conventional time a trailer lasts for. Enigma codes are used by all film trailers to intrigue the audience, and suggest what could happen in the final production. My film trailer displays this convention, as it is unclear if his dream is achieved and how his relationships with close family and friends turn out.

Title

Firstly, the names of these productions are all very similar, usually two syllable words that are powerful and it suggests to the audience that the production entails some kind of adversity and a sense of focus on the main protagonist. My film trailer is called My Everest and this corresponds to the bold and powerful convention of these film trailer titles. It is a general title that leaves the audience to create their own opinion but is less self-absorbed because of the word Everest. Everest is a mountain and it provides a sporting metaphor for overcoming adversity and getting to the top. Natural imagery is also in the Raging Bull title and it expands what the audience can perceive about the production. A raging bull is a dangerous animal and is a metaphor for an opponent being faced in the production or the main protagonist.

Narrative Structure

Another feature of these film trailers is the Todorov structure that Rocky Balboa, The Fighter and Warrior and Raging Bull follow and this structure applies to my film trailer as the storyline follows the same patterns and narrative plots. The structure is equilibrium, disequilibrium and then back to an altered equilibrium. Training montages are extremely prominent in sporting film trailers and to engage the audiences interest. I have many shots of the main protagonist training and it shows the intensity he is working at to achieve his dream.

To be concise, a film trailer like Rocky Balboa shows his life being good at the beginning and there being little or no conflicts in his life. His decision to fight against the current champion, Mason Dixon, creates this conflict and the audience can now see him training hard to get ready for the fight. He wants to show that he is also still a champion boxer and the abuse that he receives for being too old is perceived by Rocky as the inspiration he needs win against Dixon.

This is also the case with films Warrior and The Fighter where relationships with family members and girlfriends antagonise their dream and they usually provide a catalyst for the fall from grace as well as providing the inspiration to get their life back on track and realise their dream again. This convention is seen in my film trailer where the mother of the main protagonist is worried about his life as well as his girlfriend providing a hint to the audience that they breakup.

The setting of my film is very similar to those seen in other sporting film trailers. The locations that are seen in my product include: a corner shop, a local gym and a local park among others. The common convention for these films is the locations used are fairly low budget. This made it easier for someone like me with a low budget to construct a film trailer with the verisimilitude crucial to giving my film authenticity.

The generic atmosphere for these types of films is quite suspenseful and full of adrenaline because of the different events that occur throughout the prolonged duration of the film. My media product conforms with these various positive and dark moods associated with sport films as with every success seen there is a struggle of some sort (otherwise the film would not be entertaining). Heroes of a film often come from an average background and this is because the audience wants to see people like themselves defying the odds and achieving the unlikely.

The genre of my film is clear at the very beginning of the trailer as a rugby ball makes an appearance. The costumes seen in my film trailer emphasise the dark moods, for example, the main protagonist is wearing bland colours like black and white. There is also a voiceover that gives a message to the audience and intrigues them to watch more and find out the struggles that he has gone through to try and achieve his dream. The locations seen (e.g. gym, parks etc) suggest it is a sporting film as there are no exotic locations. The narrative offers the traditional male lead with montage editing of the protagonist in the gym.The main protagonist will feature prominently in my film trailer as the narrative revolves around his life. The voice over at the beginning will help to establish his current situation and also establish the mood of the film. The progression of his journey is seen throughout the narrative and this indicates that he is a key part of the film. He is seen being alone and this a common convention in sporting films as everything seems to be against him. Like when climbing Mount Everest, you can be isolated and this is another metaphor that is applied to my production.

There is no stand out antagonist in my film trailer but collectively there are distractions and conflicts that prove to get in the way of the athlete. The world seems to be against him but he wants to defy the odds and come out on top. The use of females in these types of films is on the increase and they are influential in the success of the athlete and this convention is developed in my film trailer.

The use of the various soundtracks emphasises the different moods I am trying to portray to the audience, e.g. happy when things are going well but struggling when things are going badly. It is clear in sport films like these that the soundtrack builds pace when the struggle and conflict is seen and this creates suspense within the audience, as they want to see glimpses of what will happen in the film. The use of soundtracks in my product will be key in interesting the audience, as the locations are fairly dull.

Challenge

I have drawn from many conventions that I wanted to use in my product because there is a certain pattern and structure (Todorov) that is seemingly successful and obviously what viewers of this genre want to see. Most want to see the main protagonist rising from the bottom and defying the odds, whilst their love life and relationships outside of the sport are being shown as a sub-plot.

One convention I perhaps didnt follow much was with the pace of my film trailer. It starts slowly with a long voiceover to establish the narrative and the predicament of the protagonist. I felt that it would engage the audiences attention and then the pace of editing would suddenly increase once the audience have an idea of what the trailer will entail. My film trailer attempts to relate to a target audience of typically ordinary people and aspiring athletes and hopefully provide inspiration to some of them.