CCR research - Question #1

Hey there! In this blog post I’ll be answering Question 1 of my CCR, which is: “How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?”

Genre Conventions

My film opening is about a suspenseful and crime story, and suspense films usually create tension, mystery and they leave the audience with unanswered questions. They often include elements like investigations, hidden information, and darker lighting. Crime and investigation stories usually focus on hiding the truth so that they can reveal the explanations and answers throughout the movie.

In my opening, I follow these conventions, since my story focuses on a scientist running an unauthorized DNA test connected to evidence from a crime. I use dark lighting, close-up shots, restricted information and a very short dialogue of literally 3 words to create even more tension. When the FBI folder is shown with a crime report of a suspect, but still doesn’t reveal who she is, it helps my story to follow the suspense convention of withholding information from the audience.

I decided to follow the suspense genre conventions because I wanted my opening to clearly feel like a suspense film from the start. Instead of showing action or violence, I focused more on psychological suspense. The audience doesn’t know who the DNA belongs to or who the scientist is talking to, which makes them curious. I also used very little dialogue and quiet sound to make small moments feel more intense. 

To help me write and understand a bit more about genre conventions in suspense, I read this article: 

https://thewritepractice.com/genre-conventions/?

Representation

In my film opening, representation is shown through Dr. Werner. In a lot of movies, scientists are usually shown as either the good genius who saves everyone or the evil scientist who causes problems. I didn’t want to make him that simple, so I made him more complicated. He is really smart and professional, but at the same time he is breaking the rules by running an unauthorized DNA test. This makes the audience unsure about him. They don’t know if he is doing something right or something wrong, which makes him more interesting.

My film also shows themes of investigation, and Dr. Werner knows important information that the audience doesn’t, so it gives him power in the story. Because he controls the results of the DNA test, he controls what others know. I didn’t clearly show him as a hero or a villain on purpose because I wanted the audience to question his intentions and decide how they feel about him.

Overall, my opening uses suspense elements like mystery, dark lighting and hidden information while showing a character that is realistic and kinda mysterious! This makes the story more tense and keeps the audience curious about what will happen next.

To help me understand and write about representation, I read this article: 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z9fx39q/revision/1

Also, I used the opening title sequence of Se7en (1995) as a reference because the dark tones and the mysterious visuals help set up the tension of the film before any story details are shown.