Use of Conventions

Our product uses conventions of our genre as seen in our camera movements. Our genre is most likely a comedy that could also have elements of a drama, in which the product pertains to Santa Claus's drastic circumstances after losing his job. Although we did not expect to use some of the techniques in our original planning, some of our conventions utilized do match with the conventions of a comedy. For instance, some camera movements included quick zooms, including the camera pulling the shot in significantly close or significantly far. This adds an absurd, exaggerated affect to the scene characteristic of a comedy. The lingering wide shot of the entire room depicting Santa Claus as the board members await his response could also be found in comedies. However, these camera movements are not commonly found in more serious films such as dramas. These conventions, including the zooms and the wide-shot helps represent social groups or issues by portraying the tension between Santa Claus and the board members. The zooms exaggerate and bring into detail the types of wrongdoings Santa Claus had committed and the way the elves felt about his actions. The wide-shot also helps portray the tension between Santa Claus and the elves, by bringing in the awkward silence and tension between the members as Santa Claus sits away from the rest of the group, as if antagonized. A suitable audience for this film opening could be a general audience, in particular ones that celebrate Christmas, or those who enjoy holiday films. This product could be difficult to represent social groups or issues because the plot and characters are primarily fantasy. However, it challenges the typical notion of Santa Claus and Christmas tales by presenting a revered character as someone who has committed wrongdoings and must be fired from his job. By striving to challenge standard ideas about Christmas, our film could be interesting and comedic to the viewer.