Final Opening Sequence - Question 1

Q1 – In what ways does your media product USE, DEVELOP or CHALLENGE forms and conventions of real media product?

The opening sequence for The Plan mainly uses, develops AND challenges the forms, codes and conventions of the action genre and subsequently typical action films, which is what our opening sequence is centred on, in several ways. One of the primary themes of our opening sequence was to ensure that there was a fine line between giving a lot of the storyline away and providing a small baseline of what exactly characters Mitch and Donny are going to carry out, so that the audience acknowledges the fact that the characters are going to conduct something fairly mischievous however they are maintained in the dark and prompts them to ask questions like: what exactly are they doing? How is the location [Secondary School] significant to them? Generally-speaking, why are they doing what they are doing? The latter question is answered by the film itself via exploring the background and personality of Mitch and Donny more in-depth, which then explains what led them to be in the scenarios they are in. Anyway, the following aspects that were vital when included in the opening sequence as we did some research on the codes and conventions are:

-          High intensity in music: Dark and suspenseful/Grooving and upbeat

-          Modern, urban location/setting

-          Antagonists plotting something that the protagonists and allies have no knowledge on.

-          High levels of energy and intensity (including sound/music)

-          Contrasting missions/objectives for the protagonists and antagonists

-          High use of technology

 Over the type of non-diagetic (preferably for our film) music used, myself had a bit of a dispute with Hannah and Alexandra, as they felt that a more upbeat and encouraging soundtrack was ideal for our opening sequence given that they viewed those types of music as suiting the film genre more, however the dark and suspenseful music, which stemmed further from the fact that the storyline of the opening sequence was based on mostly keeping the audience in the dark as to what was Mitch and Donny’s plan as well as the slow, suspenseful music being apparent in action films symbolising the calm before the storm. In mutual agreement, we all decided to choose the grooving and upbeat soundtrack, which was known as Rising, which was played throughout the opening sequence and modified during the dialogue, which was one code and convention developed in the form of the narrative and will be explained later but the choice of music, it can be said, was developed due to it being adjusted based on the feeling of the opening sequence being an action film rather than the storyline of the opening sequence and the mood of it expressed via mise-en-scene elements such as location and costumes as well as how the characters carry themselves. This perhaps contrasts with the opening sequence of Quantum of Solace (2008), which opening sequence music is based on the storyline with its fast-paced, thrilling and instinctive scenario. On the contrary, one code and convention that are used and we found likened to other films part of the same genre such as Bad Boys II (2003) and Men In Black (1997) as well as one of our research films, Rush Hour 3 (2007), are the number and type of characters featured in the films, that being two males that are co-operating with one another in some form: Mitch and Donny in The Plan, Marcus and Mike in the Bad Boys series, Agent K and Agent J in the Men In Black series and Carter and Lee in the Rush Hour series. However, the notable difference between the two males in The Plan and the other aforementioned films is that both Mitch and Donny are disturbed antagonists whilst the two males in the Men In Black, Bad Boys and Rush Hour series are extrovert, vibrant protagonists.

The dialogue by Mitch and Donny that takes the form of the narrative in the opening sequence was one that was frankly considered easily, due to our ability of linking the common props such as blueprints (one in the opening sequence) and weapons to a scenario of committing mischief and adultery, how the dialogue was developed also involved the characters, with Donny expressing concern over their plan and Mitch assuring Donny that everything is ok and good to go, this little concern and assurance enabled the dialogue to be stretched and therefore the opening sequence as an effect, this can be likened to an antagonist and protagonist exchanging dialogue, which are likely contrasting lines or discussing events that have occurred before the face-off, prior to them engaging in physical close combat, take Peter Parker vs. Harry Osborne in Spider-Man 3 (2007) as a primary example:

 

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI6eB4cI_LU] (Video displayed on blog)

 

The mise-en-scene elements are also importantly implemented and a way in which the codes and conventions are generally used in the form of the secondary school reflecting the modern and urban setting required to contribution to the determining of the genre of the film and themes along with matching the plausibility of other action films that also have contemporary settings. At first we considered setting the opening sequence elsewhere, with several other locations such as estates and parks nearby but unfortunately due to last-minute changes to the final treatment, storyboard and slight changes to the storyline subsequently, we had to switch to the school as our primary location, which served as our alternative. Furthermore, communication needs for both Mitch and Donny are met via one of the props, which is the mobile phones enabling the pace of the opening sequence to indirectly increase at the beginning as well as highlighting the reasonably extensive use of technology by the characters to aid them in conducting their mischief. Simultaneously, the characters, this can be said for the majority, if not all action films, that they are highly associated with these implementations of the codes and conventions: using mobile phones [Props] to inform one another of their whereabouts and doings, Mitch and Donny actually being the ones that express the dialogue [Narrative] as well as the storyline of the opening sequence, which involves them, being set at the modern location in the secondary school, their personalities consisting of being perturbed (when things don’t go their way), authoritative and wayward are some of the many traits shared by most antagonists, Donny expressing annoyance and confusion  when he’s quizzing Mitch after he’s informed by Mitch that there’s a few hiccups with the plan, how Mitch and Donny are positioned in the frame in the two-shots is really crucial as they are know to be equally authoritative and not one of them is positioned in the foreground or background, it symbolises that not one of them is more dominant than the other and that they also share equal status and standards. Other than the questioning of the plan by Donny, both the latter and Mitch are fairly secure as they feel at the time that there is virtually no one to prevent them from succeeding but themselves.