In What ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our Media product uses some typical conventions and some new conventions of the gangster/crime genre. Some of the conventions that are typical of other media products within the gangster/crime genre is the media and titles we used.
We used this shot to introduce the music and then end the music by using Billy pressing 'play' on his ipod. (which is a youth indicator also) This also shows how the music we chose links with young characters because we made it seem like he was listening to it. The music we chose for our film opening is from the hip-hop/ rap genre and this is frequently and stereotypically paired with the genre we have chosen. 
The font we used from our titles is also a typical convention of the gangster/crime genre because although we found a different font on the internet, it is still a graffiti style that suits the genre well and this has been shown in other films, without using our own illegal graffiti. We used the font because of the inclusion of youths as the main characters and they are typically associated with graffiti.
This shot is used so that the audience can guess that Billy is going to meet this character. By introducing this character in this way, the audience gets the idea that he may be quite dangerous by the way he is dressed with his hood up and by the way we used a jump cut to emphasise a kind of urgency and wonder in where and why they are meeting. 
This shot emphasises the effect that the audience is witnessing what is happening much like a passer-by. We have used this effect in quite a few shots, this one was shot from a roof so we got a birds- eye- view on what was going on. Using the underpass also had the advantage of taking high angle shots looking down at where tom and billy were standing and keeping it looking natural.
We used this shot to introduce the music and then end the music by using Billy pressing 'play' on his ipod. (which is a youth indicator also) This also shows how the music we chose links with young characters because we made it seem like he was listening to it. The music we chose for our film opening is from the hip-hop/ rap genre and this is frequently and stereotypically paired with the genre we have chosen. The font we used from our titles is also a typical convention of the gangster/crime genre because although we found a different font on the internet, it is still a graffiti style that suits the genre well and this has been shown in other films, without using our own illegal graffiti. We used the font because of the inclusion of youths as the main characters and they are typically associated with graffiti. This shot is used so that the audience can guess that Billy is going to meet this character. By introducing this character in this way, the audience gets the idea that he may be quite dangerous by the way he is dressed with his hood up and by the way we used a jump cut to emphasise a kind of urgency and wonder in where and why they are meeting. This shot emphasises the effect that the audience is witnessing what is happening much like a passer-by. We have used this effect in quite a few shots, this one was shot from a roof so we got a birds- eye- view on what was going on. Using the underpass also had the advantage of taking high angle shots looking down at where tom and billy were standing and keeping it looking natural. The conventions within our film that, I think, develop conventions of real media products is the convention of using the skate boarding element. This is tying up the conventions of youths with new and different stereotypes. Skins has brought in this development with Freddie. The usual conventions is using badly brought up/ rebel criminal youths.
Our setting is typical of the conventions used in real media products because we focused on using urban settings to match the kind of characters we used.
By using the skateboard as a main prop we managed to make the opening seem more fast paced which is a direct link to crime films as there is often some kind of trouble that the characters are getting into or out of. The skateboard makes Billy's journey into trouble more fast paced and we were also able to link in the kind of character he might be. The graffiti in the skate park was also key to bringing out Billy's character, and the city view and derelict underpass was key in bringing out the kind of character that Tom played.
By using the skateboard as a main prop we managed to make the opening seem more fast paced which is a direct link to crime films as there is often some kind of trouble that the characters are getting into or out of. The skateboard makes Billy's journey into trouble more fast paced and we were also able to link in the kind of character he might be. The graffiti in the skate park was also key to bringing out Billy's character, and the city view and derelict underpass was key in bringing out the kind of character that Tom played. The costumes we used had to blend in well with the characterisation we were trying to portray. The baggy clothing combined with dull colours worked well with the emotion and feeling we wanted to bring out in the characters. We chose to film the opening in the late afternoon so we could use the natural light to portray a grey, dull feeling that links the genre to many gritty films that use dull lighting too.This also presents the convention of melancholy that is often used in other media products. It also gives the impression that something is being hidden from the audience and builds up tension that seems to become deeper when we come to the underpass because the tension turns into danger and aggression and the audience suspects that something bad is going to happen.
By using a knife as a main prop we used a very typical convention of our genre. This combined with the stereotyped 'Hoody', carrying knives is often lead to unfortunate consequences in many films.
By using a knife as a main prop we used a very typical convention of our genre. This combined with the stereotyped 'Hoody', carrying knives is often lead to unfortunate consequences in many films. The opening suggests the genre in a few obvious ways. Almost immediately the audience sees the meeting of two youths involved in dealing or using drugs. As drugs are quite a common convention in gangster/crime films, this is a very clear signal of the genre within the first few seconds of the opening. The use of young characters is also a very common factor associated with the genre we chose. 
We chose the title Common Enemy because it is a short and edgy name which symbolises the effect of drugs on our society and particularly in youths where drugs can often be the enemy. This shot also evokes a sadness that is often linked to this kind of gritty ending. It also leaves the audience guessing because it could be that Billy is the main character and by killing him off you should want to know more about the other characters that appeared briefly. The emphasis on youths involved in drug and knife crime is huge in today's society and by bringing in more than one youth stereotypes in using Billy, we are cancelling out the stereotypes you might find in films such as Kidulthood, yet still combining the wider stereotype of youths in general.
We chose the title Common Enemy because it is a short and edgy name which symbolises the effect of drugs on our society and particularly in youths where drugs can often be the enemy. This shot also evokes a sadness that is often linked to this kind of gritty ending. It also leaves the audience guessing because it could be that Billy is the main character and by killing him off you should want to know more about the other characters that appeared briefly. The emphasis on youths involved in drug and knife crime is huge in today's society and by bringing in more than one youth stereotypes in using Billy, we are cancelling out the stereotypes you might find in films such as Kidulthood, yet still combining the wider stereotype of youths in general.
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