Film Opening: Evaluation Blog Post - CCR #1

CCR #1:

Conventions & Representation

How does your product use or challenge film conventions, and how does it represent social groups or issues?

 Hello, my name is Ryan Jurdi, and this is my answer to CCR #1 and to be creative with my CCR I will be doing this reflection as a news reporter. First, let's start off with how my film opening used conventions. One of the ways I used a convention that sports films follow is the entire story of the opening film. The story is supposed to be an emotional rollercoaster where it starts as sad since it's showing the main character get injured but then switches to happy for a little bit of time when the flashback occurs to then quickly switch back to being sad again since the opening shows the aftermath of the main character getting injured. To make it worse, the opening ends on a cliffhanger before the audience learns if the injury the main character sustained was bad or not. Another way the film opening uses conventions instead of challenging it is the camerawork. A common convention in sports films is to use a tracking shot to follow the movement of a character in a game or practice. This is exactly what I did. A lot of the camerawork that was in my video was tracking shots. For example, the camerawork I used for the scene that caused my “injury” was a tracking shot. The main character started at the half of the soccer field and moved down the field to the top of the big box all while the camera tracked the movements. Another convention I used regarding the camera was medium shots since medium shots in sports films help establish tension. For example, I used a medium shot for the last scene so I can create tension while ending the film off on a cliffhanger. Another convention I used was editing. In sports films they use a lot of cuts, especially when there is a training montage. For example, my film used a lot of quick cuts to achieve a training montage during the flashback to lead up to the injury.  A convention that I challenged was sound. There usually is upbeat non-diegetic music in sports films but for my film opening while it was non-diegetic, I decided since the character is getting injured the tone of the song should be on the slightly sadder side which is why I chose the song, “I walk this Earth all by myself.” 

The way my film opening represents social issues is by showing someone being injured. I wanted to represent this because injuries, especially when it comes to sports, can be saddening while also making the person feel isolated since in certain cases, they are cut off from doing their usual activities.