Evaluation- Part Five

Part Five- How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our title sequence represents two main types of people criminals and law-abiding citizens. The investigator represents the law-abiding citizen and the suspect, the criminal. I felt that stereotyping the suspect would look wrong, yet I wanted the suspect to look like a triad. We did not base him on another triad character, instead we filmed him in a way were he looked like a suspicious character. By using camera angles such as over the shoulder shots, extreme long shots and long shots, we are able to portray him in a suspicious manner. The camera angles connote that he is doing something secretive and wrong. The sound also added to the Chinese themes the film has, making it seem more youthful and more likely to be a popular Chinese song.

I wanted the investigator to look intelligent but not stereotypical like a Sherlock Holmes character, a smart looking man. I liked the idea of him looking rough as this gave him a dangerous edge. We have represented the investigator to look determined, that he will not rest until this case is closed. His roughness is represented through the mise-en-scene, as hid costume is raggedly and smartly. This shows that he is an intellectual, yet his costumes show through rolled up sleeves that he is sleepless. That this case has affected his private life a lot. By using camera shots of him i wanted him to look like a mysterious and troubled hero, by only shooting him over the shoulder and in mid-shots. Through the use of sound we tried to portray him as butch and rough sounding. As we gave him some dialogue within the title sequence and we wanted this to be the only thing audiences knew about him, that he sounded strong and determined.

We chose the typography as it has a Chinese effect, this represents the triads having a main effect within the film. It also establishes that the film will take place within China. The typography looked youthful, this is why I liked it. Because it looked as if it could belong to a gang of young men in china, as they could use this typography as graffiti. I also liked it because it looked smart, as if it could represent both the good and the bad people within society and how they are combined together in this one city.

Using Vladimir Propps' theory i wanted the investigator to be portrayed as "The Hero" as he solves the case and saves Hong Kong from these violent and serious triads. I wanted the suspect to be  "The Villain", but his gang to be more serious villains then he is. With a private source acting as "The Donor", "The Dispatcher" and "The Princess and Her Father", as they supply the investigator with the information he needs and they give him the case to solve. "The helper" would be that of the characters in which the investigator goes to, to get his information from they would most likely be a rehabilitated criminals. "The False Hero" would be that of the police department taking credit for the case they never solved.