How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?
Crime films are determined on the basis of their relationship with society. On one hand, crime films say something important about the social setting that they represent and from which they have been created. Contrarily, the films themselves have an effect on social meaning, since their representation of crime, law, justice, and punishment itself becomes an interpretation of reality.
Specifically, my movie is classified as the gangster crime genre and I did a blog post on the conventions a while back. There are the ones I incorporated:
- Corruption
- Good v. Evil
- Power
- Morality
- Danger
- Fallibility (Rise and Fall)
- Violence
- Murder
- Wealth
For the most part, my film would embrace all of these conventions. It includes a discharged military man in his youth who aspires to have a better life in America. He has an aspiration to be in a position where he can have everything he ever wanted. However the main protagonist learns that America isn't as prosperous as he imagined it to be, learning that his stride for social mobility wouldn't be possible and that a life of crime would be his fate in land of the free. He has a moral dilemma on his wrongdoings and decides to take a different approach to his life. Instead of having a corrupt and violent protagonist, he would have positive morals as he goes farther and farther into the criminal world . Unlike most criminals to kill or steal for money or power, he does it to do good in his community. He's extremely patriotic but he has his own prejudices that are frequent throughout the movie, however, he would remain loyal to his family and his beliefs, sacrificing anything in order to protect them.
The Production Side
The filming and editing of the film would be simple, relying heavily on mise en scene to demonstrate the realism of the film. The viewers need to figure out whether the setting, characters, and costumes are realistic which is where realism ties into the film production. Location is also key, for instance, movies like the Godfather are put in New York where there is a large Italian and crime presence, contributing to the realism of the film.
Challenging Conventions
There really isn't any. In fact, my whole film embraces these conventions. My whole protagonist embodies the genre, as he is a male character who has a hard-up bringing and the film emphasizes his struggles and his road to overcome them. The reason for this is that my main character has his reasons to do the criminal acts he intends on doing, and the viewers are supposed to sympathize and understand his reasons for doing them. My whole film is just a stylistic approach to a realistic portrayal of a criminal figure.
Representation
The only group I'm representing in my opening are two white Russian males, so not a whole bunch of diversity. The main character, Danil, would represent aspiring young men in Russia hoping to find a better life in the U.S and we would portray that later on the film with the type of music he listens to and his interests outside his criminal life. But the other social group in the movie would be the evil, devious criminal figures (including Danil's cousin) who make Danil do their bidding. The movie is supposed to ponder on things such as the life of an immigrant in the U.S and what it means to be a real patriot of one's country. The film would discuss things such as racism, tense relations between Russians and Ukrainians, Russians and Americans and so on. The whole film is basically a Russian guy looking for a better life in the U.S who experiences the worst and the best America has to offer.
Now throughout his time in the criminal realm, he encounters numerous issues, issues such as the ones that arose in Scorcese's, Taxi Driver. "Travis is disgusted by the sleaze, dysfunction, and prostitution that he witnesses throughout the city, and struggles to find meaning for his existence."
Danil has the same exact problem, with an existential crisis on his purpose in America, as he goes farther in his cousin's crime world. The corrupt and immoral people he meets revolts him and gives him a want to better his newfound city. He comes into America naive and oblivious but his participation in crime makes him a stronger and more moral person.
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