Q1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
We had planned from our initial brief to make
our film fit the romantic comedy genre.
We each took part in researching into elements of genre, such as
romance, drama, romantic comedy and comedy itself to give ourselves an in-depth
knowledge of what an audience expects to find in each. We found that romantic
comedy was quite a typical genre and has a familiar structure, (See Below). Although elements of our film fit to this
structure, (boy meets girl, conflict, obstacles) it also contradicts the genre,
as there is no real threat to the couples’ relationship and there appears to be
no happily ever after at the end. Romantic comedy is not the only genre our
film fits. Theories like Steve Neale’s believe that genres are interlinked as
hybrids. Although not totally apparent, our film is a hybrid of romantic comedy
and science fiction (a.k.a. Sci-Fi) with the frequent use of possible future
technologies.
To plan, we first brainstormed as a group to
choose collectively basic plot and structure of our film. We took our research
into genre further by watching clips of romantic comedies to study the
locations, characters, costumes and overall editing. I choose to study a clip
from “50 First Dates” (See Below).
Influence from films like “50 First Dates” and “Click” gives our film
intertextuality. We also researched into short films on websites such as ShortsBay to see what makes a short
film.
We edited our film on Final Cut Express. Our film features a large number and variety of
jump cuts to make longer periods of time in our film pass by quicker as we only
have a restricted 5 minutes. Our film also has a non-linear narrative, starting
in the middle of the story, cutting back to the start of their relationship,
and finishing with the end. To make the transitions more fluent, we added video
transitions and some freeze-frames with voiceovers. We also used a combination
of music and voiceover to create a montage to make the passage of time quicker
and more fluent. We also used Final Cut to alter the speed of our film in the
“rewinding” scenes, we simply selected the footage we wanted to play backwards,
went to the “Motion” tab, select “Speed”, changed the duration to the desired
speed, usually around 2 seconds, and then select “Reverse”. To make it more
realistic, we also added sound effects from royalty free websites like SoundJay, of a cassette tape rewinding.
We maintain continuity while editing by
keeping to the 180-degree rule in our shot reverse shot scenes, and also edited
the lighting by adding filters to alter colour and brightness. These filters
made the transition between shots seamless even though they were filmed on
different days and at different times.
Our film aims to make a statement about
todays world, in terms of technology and relationships. First with the remote
and its effects on the universe. When does technology go too far? When is
enough, enough? We hope our audience will question whether they would like a
remote like the prop themselves to remove mistakes or would they rather be
liked in a relationship regardless of imperfections. The remote is used as more
than a prop, but as a symbol for todays’ society and the image of perfection we
are obligated to fit. Buscombe theory of inner and outer forms of genre relates
to our films sci-fi elements. Although the remote serves as an outer form, a
prop as a visual convention for the underlying sci-fi element of our film, it
also serves as an inner form to express the moral of the story. Hopefully,
after seeing the disappointment of the characters after the effects of the
remote, the audience will come to the conclusion that perhaps the remote is not
the answer. Our film also challenges the idea that men hold more power over
women, particularly in film. Although our
lead character is male, he is portrayed as a vulnerable character, at the mercy
of the female, and although he is control of the remote, she has control over
the date. It challenges the conventions of film. But in the end, both
characters are revealed as vulnerable, as she has a remote as well. This
relates to Rick Altman’s theory of semantic, syntactic and pragmatics as it
features elements of all three:
- Semantics – visual conventions of
the genre. (Boy meets girl, date situation of having dinner, flowers.)
- Syntactics – expectations/ideals
of the narrative. (Power struggles of relationships, sexual under theme, the
search for love)
- Pragmatics – influence of
audience/institutes. (Power struggle between men and women where the male has
the upper hand – however in the end we have equilibrium.)
The audience should receive forms of pleasure
through watching our film. Richard Dyer’s theory of “Utopian Sensibilities”
believes audience seek pleasure for an element they lack in their own life
through films. Our film provides:
·
Intensity in its characters
alternating moods for those who have a ‘boring’ or ‘mundane life’.
·
Transparency as our leading male
has clear emotions through his facial expressions, dialogue and inner monologue
for those tired of ‘lies and manipulation’.
·
Most importantly, community for
those who are ‘lonely’, as even though the characters are conflicted, they are
both presented as hopeless and in a way, meant for each other, which should
give our audience a subtle hope.
The majority of the short films I know have
an experimental or educational feel, often used as a form of expression or to
give a moral. Some are even used for advertising, such as the short film I
analysed called “The Star”, which is
an advertisement for Mercedes. “The Star” was quite different for a short film,
as it is filled with high profile celebrities, like Madonna and Clive Owen, whereas
usually short films have unknown actors due to their budget. It had a male V.s.
female dynamic, similar to ours. Ours also has a male/female V.s technology, as
does “the Star” where Madonna is at the mercy of the Mercedes and her Driver.
It has elements of physical comedy very similar to ours, for example when the
Star spills coffee on her trousers, which is mistaken for urine. They use some
similar editing techniques to our film, for example they alter the speed of
some footage and use overdramatic music for comedic effect.
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