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

When designing our title sequence, we had to make sure the titles followed the general conventions of a real media product and so, we ensured that they could be clearly understood and interpreted in the right manner. However at the same time, we didn't want the audience to lose interest, so we had to create a balance between upholding the general conventions of a film title sequence and creating a challenge to maintain audience interest.

               

This first title of our sequence is of the distributor of the film. It upholds the general conventions of a title sequence because the first title is always that of the company that finances the film. We also made sure that the size of 'Artisan Entertainment' is larger than 'presents' since that draws focus on the more important segments of the title.

At the same time, the design of the title also challenges conventions when viewed by an audience, in the sense that it is composed of several layers which create a 3-D effect, which not many films have. However, we've made sure that the significance is still on the titles, so we've blurred out the other words in order to achieve that. In addition to that, we also decided to handwrite the titles, since the diary entries are also handwritten thus adding to the thematic feel of the sequence. There is also a light bulb that flickers in the background, which ensures that the audience will have something to observe at all times. Not only does this keep the audience engaged, it also requires them to input some effort into filling in the blanks of the hidden meaning behind this sequence.

This is the second title of our sequence which is of the production company who are next in line of importance in terms of the production. It follows and challenges conventions in the same way as the previous title.

This title conforms to the order of the list of titles in terms of importance, since the director of the film is the next important person involved in the production. 

The background is now a different one, again with a lot of different elements in order to keep the audience involved. However, when the title appears, all the other layers are out of focus, so that the title attains all the attention. We also had to ensure that none of them were too distracting, like the smoke, for example. We managed to achieve the desired effect after playing around with it for a while.

The next title in the order of importance is that of the actors. Since this film would be a low-budget film if it was made, we came to the conclusion that the actors wouldn't be very well-known - this is why we decided to display three of them at once.

The director of photography comes next in the list. We also added a focus pull after this title, so that the audience could read the diary entries (which are out of focus when the titles are displayed) and make sense of them.

The next title is that of the original score. Since the sound in this sequence is quite significant in the creation of the thematic feel and in conveying the message of the sequence, we decided that the sound design was an important title to display. 

One of the key moments of the sequence is the disappearance of this title - a puff of smoke blowing the titles away as they travel past it. The smoke idea is carried forward from the previous title and it also ties in with the concept of 'askewed' thinking and vision which we are trying to convey through this sequence.

The next title displayed is that of the writer of the screenplay. In terms of framing, we made sure to place each title in a different place for every shot, yet we kept the rule of thirds in our minds when doing so, in order to make sure they are still placed on one of the 'hot spots'. We also made sure the background layers could be clearly seen, thus we opted for the focus pull between the titles and the diary entries again.
Colour is another significant element that we used in the production of this sequence. Notice how we started of with a back background, which gradually transformed into a blue followed by purple, and then red. After this shot, it turns back to black (and white). This ties in with the idea of the protagonists life degrading up to the point of insanity, which is represented by the colour red in this case.

The production design in our sequence plays an important role in this sequence so we decided that this would be the next most important title. It holds and challenges the same conventions as the previous title.

This shot is now in black and white thus representing the idea of the protagonist's life beyond insanity. The title of the editor, who is the next important person involved is now placed in a different "hot spot", since this is a different shot. We've re-introduced the smoke idea, since it is a key concept of the sequence.

The producer is the next title - since he is in charge of all the people whose titles have passed.

The director is mentioned once again, to draw significance of the importance of this person's contribution to the whole production of the product - from pre-production, through the shoots, and then the post-production.

This is the final title of the sequence; the name of the film. This is usually displayed at the end of the title sequence, and the story of the film starts after that. Askew follows this general structure, thus upholding media product conventions.