Evaluation 1

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

(Using conventions of real media products)
My film, Graves, adheres to convention in regards to the soundtrack - the music is consistent, and popular. And example of this would be in Reservoir Dogs - all the songs were popular songs form the 70s, and this was highlighted by the fact that the soundtrack was completely diagetic from the radio show "K-Billy's Super Sounds of the 70s". This gimmick is adhered to through the film. All songs were very popular. but to a specific audience - mainly of those who were active in the 70s. This is likely to give the audience a sense of nostalgia, but also, modern pop is played frequently on the radio, tv and in movies, so by taking the soundtrack back 20 years the audience will be hearing songs they more than likely appreciated back in the day but haven't heard it in a while or frequently enough to get on their nerves. This tactic is also employed in Guardians of the Galaxy. The soundtrack came off the main protagonists MP3 player, and were older, classic "Motown" style songs. Had it have been the Kanye West album "Yeezus" or something like that, many people would despise it as they may have liked the song when it came out, they've heard it so many times that it's insufferable. I chose Queens of the Stone Age's "Vampyre of Time and Memory" to be the first song in my movie because it's a popular song form a very loved album by a well known band, but it isn't main stream and was released two years ago, so for those who have heard it, it's likely to have been forgotten or, at least, not as played as on it's original release.

(Challenging convention)

Despite this, I challenge this convention by lacking dialogue throughout the film, in a fashion similar to "The Tribe". This way the film can also appear to deaf audiences without the need for subtitles or a translator at the bottom of the screen. This way the viewer can focus more on the actions, body language and symbolism of the character than the dialogue or sounds, however a soundtrack was used so audiences able to hear do not get bored.

(Developing conventions)
Referring to the previous point, I have developed the concept of a film for the deaf, and the use of the popular catchy soundtrack to create somewhat of a hybrid. Disregarding story, there will be three main reasons people would want to watch this film: Deaf people may find this appealing, knowing they can go to the cinema and see a film they can fully understand, but at the same time, not be segregated in the sense that only deaf people watch that movie, people who are fans of Queens of the Stone Age may want to check the film out, and finally people interested in the concept of a film without spoken language.