Conventions of Crime

The main conventions of a Crime film mainly consist of gunfights, drug deals, mystery, death and suspense. It could also use car chases and detectives, a twist in the plot, some humourous scenes and some possible romance. Most of these conventions have been included in our Crime opening. There is plenty of action included in the Interrogation scene, both Jimmy and Big Arth (his name alone has elements of comedy) come up with some rather humourous lines, elements of typical Crime films are included (eg. guns, drug deals, interrogation etc.), some mystery is portayed by the fact that Big Arth's supplier has gone missing and suspense is also incorparated, especially when Jimmy is held at gunpoint by two sinister-looking men and is being interrogated by the unknown drug lord.

Our footage has the main genre of Crime, however several sub-genres are used, too. As said in the 'Pineapple Express' page (a big influence for our opening), you could also describe our film as a "stoner action comedy", which simply means a film with action, comedy and drugs. It could as include the term 'buddy comedy', which means a film where two people of the same sex (men are used more historically) are paired together and are involved in a humourous but possibly action packed scenario (in our film's case, Luke B and me). Our sub-genres in our film are, near enough, exactly the same as Pineapple Express's, made up of about 5-6 in total. These are Comedy, Crime, Action/Adventure, Buddy and Stoner., Action, Action Comedy, Cult, Thri   ller. 
However, 'Pineapple Express' includes some mild scenes of romance between Seth Rogen's character and a teenage girl which is something that is not included in our film. The romance does eventually disappear from the film when they break up over the phone in a rather humourous scene.

James Franco and Seth Rogen as the two 'buddies' in Pineapple Express

A pile of handguns

The Promotional Poster for Pineapple Express, consisting of the two buddies mentioned above and Danny McBride (James Franco's supplier in the film) all armed with guns

A Drug Deal

A fiery explosion

Audience Research

Welcome to my Audience Research! I recently did a questionnaire on Films and got 15 people to complete it for me. Here are the results -

1. Favourite Film?
Snatch x 2, Cars, Step Brothers x 2, Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 1, Avatar x 3, Inception, Wow Child, Twilight, Hot Fuzz, Happy Gilmore, The Exorcist

2. Favourite Genre?
Comedy - 7
Action - 1
Horror - 3
Fantasy - 1
Western - 0
Other - 3

3. How many times do you go to the cinema per year?
0 - 0
1-5 - 5
6-10 - 6
11-15 - 1
16-20 - 3
21-25 - 0
25+ - 0

4. Favourite Actor or Actress?
Jason Statham, Megan Fox, Aaron Johnson, Will Ferrell, Jennifer Aniston, Channing Tatum, Sam Worthington, Johnny Depp, Robert Pattison, Bruce Willis, Jack Black, Ralph Fiennes, Daniel Radcliffe, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, Will Smith

5. Why are they your favourite?
Jason Stathum - In most favourite films
Megan Fox - Fit
AJ- Fit
WF - Funny and in most favourite films
JA - Fit
CT - Fit
SW - Good actor
JD - Fit
RP - Fit
BW- Awesome actor
JB - Funny
RF - Great actor
DR - Talented
SP+NF - Funny and interesting
WS - Good actor and been in most favourite films

6. What do you look for in the perfect film?
Good story x 4, humour and action x 3, Robert Pattison, good actors, relationships, hot people, comedy, suspense, interesting characters, good effects, good acting x 2, plot x 2 and soundtrack

7. Who do you watch films with the most?
Yourself - 4
Friends - 11
Family - 1
Boy or Girlfriend - 1
Other - 0

8. How likely are you to buy a film you liked when it comes out on DVD?
Very Likely - 4
Quite Likely - 5
Not so Likely - 1
Not Likely at all - 2
Don't Know - 3

9. What is the reason for your answer in the previous question?
Watch it again x 7, make collection of favourite films, give money to those who made it, check out extended version and special features, if they had money and they were in town, don't really care for DVD's, dad will buy it instead, they download films instead of buying DVD's

10. What do you look for in the perfect CRIME film?
Good plot x 2, people dying, action x 4, violence x 3, nothing, blood, a clever murderer x 2, interesting mystery x 2, interesting plot with a twist

From what I've noticed in my results, my audience seem to enjoy comedy films the most as well as horror and other genres so I will keep this in mind when creating the sequence.
Most of my audience tend to go to the cinema quite frequently with the majority saying they go between 1 to 10 times a year. However, some go more than that, with 4 people going around 11 to 20 times a year.
They also look for a good story, humour and action and good acting in the perfect film and a good plot, action, violence, a clever murderer and an interesting mystery in their perfect Crime film.
It seems they also prefer watching films with their friends rather than with their family, although some people don't mind watching films by themselves.
Most people are likely to buy films when they come out on DVD with a small percentage of them who don't really care for buying them. Some even download films instead of opting for the DVD.
Overall, I will try and include elements of comedy and action (possibly a bit of horror) in my opening sequence. I will also try to include plenty of violence and fighting and will try to make it so it mainly appeals for teens going out to catch a film with their friends.