EVALUATION POINT 4

EVALUATION POINT 3

EVALUATION POINT 2

How Effective Is The Combination of Your Main Product and Ancillary Texts?

Primary and Secondary Research

When faced with challenges such as producing a 5 minute long film, along with a poster and a review, the first thing I reach for is my laptop. From this I can use search engines like Google to find existing real media texts and analyse them in order to help me decide a few things.

Firstly, I opted more for secondary research when it came to short film ideas. When exploring websites such as Vimeo and YouTube, I discovered that there was a huge section of films portraying mental illnesses. This inspired me greatly as I thought it was something very unique that not many people would have thought of doing.

I used primary research more for my ancillary tasks. This included looking at real life film posters and analysing their content, colours and styles. The use of research and development from qualitative secondary and primary research has helped increase the effectiveness of my coursework pieces

When comparing the coursework criteria to last year, I realised that it gave me of a platform to explore. It enabled me to explore different codes and conventions and possibly to challenge them to create something unique and special.

When making a music magazine I found it difficult to adopt a unique way of presenting my images, style and font as I wanted it to look like a professional realistic music magazine. However when producing a film there is a vast range of theories regarding narrative, representation, and gender that helps me explain how I challenged conventions.

 My Film

I believe that the beginning of my film holds both, unrestricted narrative and a restricted narrative. The title of the film ‘In Your Mind’ hints at the idea someone may be experiencing something unworldly, therefore the audience are in expectation of something relating to in the mind. None the less the narrative is also restricted because it isn't until half way through the short film that Schizophrenia is clearly addressed. My short film consists of a linear closed structure with a beginning, middle and an ending with a definite clear conclusion. Most short films that I have analysed have been ones that carry this structure. I wanted to portray the binary opposites of being unwell with health and in order to convey this I needed a concise ending that brings happiness to the protagonist.

Literary theorists Todorov argued that most narratives start with an equilibrium in which life is ‘normal’ then this state is disrupted by an outside force then recovers the disruption and ends with a new equilibrium. I believe that this theory fits my film as the main protagonist is disrupted my his mental illness, in which he goes to get help and confronts the problem face on which leaves us with a new satisfactory ending. This is a useful theory as it reflects my idea of schizophrenia that I wanted to portray in the film as something that can cause a big disruption within somebodies life; however they can end up with a new normality and overcome what they are experiencing through help and self-belief.

A similar way my film was effective and challenged short film conventions was the involvement of anachronism. I discovered that by distorting the time through flashbacks, and flash forwards it represents the confusion of the protagonists and made the film portray the unstructured experiences the protagonists was experiencing. Cameron’s Narrative explains this further by stating that no clear dominance between the narrative threads means that the narrative often repeats scenes directly or via a different perspective. I think this is useful theory because it films such as pulp fiction and memento also capture anachronism and when tackling a subject such as mental illness it reflects how they might have flash backs and hallucinations.

In conclusion, as a media producer (of a short film) my texts are intentionally composed by myself. My film is an artificial version of the reality that we perceive around u but without media our perception of reality would be very limited.  My film is a clear example of how needing and using media helps us makes sense of an reality. Although signs and codes such as stereotypes are one huge element of how people are represented, my short film doesn’t particularly involve common stereotypes but it has, however constructed a reality of its own. Although the preferred reading of my film is that Mental Illnesses are trivial in society and that it can sometimes be underplayed by the media, the theorist Stuart Hall, says that not always people adopt your preferred reading but a negotiated reading is where those who inflect the preferred reading to take account of their social position. Therefore I think that my film does this as it opens the viewer’s up to a world that they may not have known and reflect upon their own. 

Ancillary Tasks

The most important thing that I needed to ensure about both my ancillary tasks is that they reflect the film in every way possible. For my poster I thought that if I used a montage of the images overlapping each other it would represent his mind being everywhere and lost. I thought this was a good way of representing the film and also making the poster look very effective. Most of the lighting is edited on to create an ambient effect therefore I didn’t want to juxtapose this with a vibrant poster. However I do believe that even though the house colours are black white and red, the mid shot image in the middle of the poster is still very eye catching and really draws the eye into the middle of the poster. I feel like the the unusual image in the middle will makes the audience anticipate what the film could be about.

The film review is very much in correlation with the film poster. I kept the house colours the same as well as the fonts. I added a quote from the producer of the film (me) I think this is a typical convention of a film review. If the producer is someone well known then it may draw people into reading it to see their view and opinions on the film. I also thought that adding the image from the film would be appropriate because it may not be as recognisable as a feature length film therefore people may recognize the article and want to read it if they see the poster image. I added a rating onto the review because I think it fits the conventions of a typical Film review.

AUDIANCE FEEDBACK VIDEOS

EVALUATION PART 1.

1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?


lets start with establishing what a convention actually is...
A convention is a specific rule that governs how an individual writes or shoots different media texts. 

Similarly codes are systems or signs that are split into technical or symbolic categories.
By researching the conventions of different media I was able to understand how real media texts target specific audiences and stick to one genre and narrative. My Short Film is called 'In Your Mind' which focuses around the importance of the mental illness, Schizophrenia.
It shows the protagonists experiencing hallucinations and hearing voices inside his head to which he becomes aware that he is suffering with a mental disorder. He seeks help from a psychologist in which he progresses to defeat the voices and lead a normal life.
When deciding to tackle a deep subject such as Schizophrenia, I thought it was vital to keep within the typical conventions of a short film. Firstly, i knew that i wanted to include a limited amount of characters in order to create the sense of intimacy and feeling trapped. 


Often you may find that individuals hold specific expectations of different real media texts. This year, however opened me up to perhaps challenging the typical conventions of real media texts. During the first stages of producing a short film, I shortly recognised all the many conventions that a conventional short film held.

• ·         limited characters
• ·         limited time scale
• ·         limited locations
• ·         easy plot
• ·         shorter script
• ·         limited context to the character
• ·         limited dialogue
• ·         escapism

Unlike last year where I revolved my production of  a music magazine to fit all the possible conventions of my desired genre ‘indie pop’ to make it look as professional as ever, this year I knew that it was time to develop and challenge the forms and conventions. Similar to last year I undertook extensive research into ‘what makes a successful short film’ this also meant finding a preferred genre and style. Personally I found that the most gripping films were ones that the audience could relate too. The idea of my film fitting the reception theory where the audience is active and interpreting my film based on their own personal circumstances meant that I could really target it at a specific group.

When stepping further into my ideas I was faced with some limitations that could only mean conforming to the typical conventions of a short film. Challenging the conventions appeared to become much more difficult than I expected.

What conventions does my short film consist of?

It is extremely obvious that I have used many of the conventions listed above such as limited characters (3) and limited locations (3). This was due to the complexity of the storyline, I needed to portray a teenage boy experiencing mental health problem (Schizophrenia) therefore I felt in order to achieve this, keeping the settings restricted would not over complicate the plot.

I also wanted the audience to experience the emotions that the main protagonist was feeling therefore if I had introduced any other characters to the film I believe it would take the focus of the main protagonist. Overall I wanted to portray schizophrenia among someone young who couldn’t grasp his surroundings adequately therefore keeping the settings simple, and characters limited I felt enhanced this to the audience.

 I feel like in some ways my film creates a sense of escapism for example if audiences were watching with no idea of schizophrenia and what it entails, it takes them away from their own life into something more complex and interesting. My film also uses an array of simple camerawork such as an ‘over the shoulder shot’ between the two characters, a simple ‘cut’ sot, close up and mid shots.

What conventions does your film challenge?

When thinking about representing a mental illness such as Schizophrenia, or any for that case I thought that one way to parallel this in a film is a complex and unstructured narrative. I have used many flashbacks in time and jump cuts to ‘hallucinations’ and contrasting different ambient lighting with highlighted edited lighting. I believed the more abstract this came across the more representational it is of someone experiencing a mental illness.

It opposes the ‘wish fulfilment’ idea that the audience aspire to be like the characters in the film because my film is more of an informative piece on a certain subject. In the process of this, the character is expressing his feelings of imprisonment, aloneness, and confusion therefore the audience are more likely to strike a chord of pity on the character more than a motivational aspiration towards him.

It also challenges the limited context to a character because the whole of the film is based on the context and the background and feelings of one character therefore when producing the film I had to make sure that I followed a clear conception of his emotions and be careful not to contradict anything in the film.

If I were to compare my short film to films that come under a similar line of thought/genre as my own I would say I have used similar codes and conventions to a substantial level. Many ways in which they can be compared is the linear structure of a beginning, middle and end. Also including equilibrium of events for example:

• ·         Setting the scene
• ·         A disruption
• ·         A climax,
• ·         Resolution
• ·         A new equilibrium of a satisfactory ending 

ANCILLARY TASK 2- FILM REVIEW

This is my final film review for my short film IN YOUR MIND. I thought it was very important to firstly include the release date, certificate and the running times at the beginning so that the readers are already aware of the most important details.

I've given a short overview of the plot without giving too much away so that consumers can read the review with their own informed opinion.

I worte the review from the perspective of someone interviewing me (The director)I felt that this was the most effect way to produce a review. When analysing other real life texts they were all written in the same way with similar content.The first image I have used is the main photo that on the film poster. I felt like using this image will draw the readers into reading the page as it is a very eye catching image. I also thought that if someone has seen my film, or even the film poster they will recognize this image which will almost act like a brand to the film.

By using Pixlr I was able to merge the images of my character through the post production stages. When taking the photos I made sure that I had a left, right, and centre shot in order to carry out this editing process. For the content of the review I separated it into columns as I thought this would look the most professional and fit the conventions of a film review. I think that the structure looks very organised and neat which will reflect the readers opinion of the review being well written therefore having a worthy opinion to listen too. I kept the font for this very simple. I used the Arial font from a Word document. I did not want to use something very fancy that would turn readers away. I thought if the text is simple, clear and set out neatley then this is what will draw consumers into reading this review.

I kept the colour scheme very neutral and basic however I do feel that it has a outlandish effect. I used the colours black, white and red because when looking back through my short film these were the colours that were most seen, for example the protagonist is mainly in black, untill the end of the film to which he is bright clothes because he is happy. The counselors room is red that connotes a love, care and empathy towards the character.

I also thought that adding an image from the film would possibly increase the chances of the readers wanting to go and watch the film. I also added a rating for this effect too.

ANCILLARY TASK- FINAL POSTER IDEA

This is my final film poster. As you can see I edited on a title, and the credits at the bottom. I realised that I still need to add my name and the trademark sign of the producing/ directing company. 

Many names that I have used have been repeated. When producing my short film I conformed to the typical conventions of using a limited amount of  3 characters and 3 settings. 

When researching other film posters, I found that depending on the genre there would be an evident house style. When searching for the niche genre of psychedelic/mental illness the colours where very block, consisting of heavy blacks, blues and reds. Many films that portray schizophrenia take a comedic spin on it, meaning the colours on the poster are bright and fun. The serious tone in mine meant that using bright colours would not be fitting.