Right the first question is all about or film and the conventions or challenges we have included within it. Throughout our film we have made use of many conventions that we have discovered through our research and planning of short films as well as the genre of our film. For one reason or another these have purposefully been selected to play a role within our film that will have an impact on our audience. We have also made the choice to challenge conventions within the film for one reason or another. In many films some conventions are challenged to add maybe a twist to the film or just to be creative.
Short Films
Before we go on to talk about the different blockbuster films and the character conventions that we have either followed or converted, it would be a good idea to mention the biggest genre of all that we used for our films. The conventions within a short film! The short film genre is the main genre of our film.
Before actually creating our film we researched the film genre to find out what would be contained within a typically film short. We watched a variety of shorts from different sub genres however they were all involved in the shorts category. This way we could collate the findings together to find common conventions within all the shorts. Some of the conventions included:
- Plot Twists
- Only being 40 minutes or less
- Can have a message within (moral)
- Can contain something unusual such as an object or person
Existing Short Film:
After we had searched far and wide for shorts (didn't have to search that long as there are hundreds of them) we found specific elements that were similar in many of the films. Also we took elements and thought of how we could make it our own and subvert the features to suit our style. So here are some images taken from existing short films and an explanation of each feature underneath:
1. So in image 1 this is the Ident for the film company that produced the film. This specific ident is taken from a short film called 'One man's loss' and is the ident for the company that actually made their short film. By having the ident at the beginning, the production company are advertising their company as well as it being a typical convention on most films that are published.
2. The second image shows the title of the film. As you can see this again is taken from the film named One Man's loss. Like most of the short films we research, this short film has the titles running over the top of the on screen action. It is placed over a scenic background where nothing is really going on, so in a way it fills in the gap and break between the characters conversing on screen. This title is also placed at the beginning of the film. In some example we have seen them at the end of the film, however in most of the short films reviewed, like this one, the title is near the beginning.
3. This image is taken from a popular short called The Black Hole. This image shows the twist within the film. In the research it was discovered that a twist within the storyline was a convention that was really a necessity for our short film. The event occurs such as in this, the male is photocopying when he discovers this black hole enables him to access places he couldn't before such as a food machine.
4. Image 4 shows the typical innocent protagonist. This convention was contained within many of the short films whereby we follow an even or routine involved within one persons life. In this case it was a homeless man whose life was switched around for the better by fate. Fate is also a common theme within many of the short films we watched, especially this one.
5. This shows a negative ending to the short film. In The Barberless Barber, the male protagonist goes through all the trouble to try and get a job but when he gets back, the job has been filled and so it was a waste of his time. This is a negative ending to the film which leaves the audience feeling sorry for the male who has just spent money on a new barnet only to find out that some other man has nicked his job! How dare he! This is a challenge to hegemonic ideas within the short film genre.
6. The final image show the credits of the people who starred and produced the film. This includes people such as the actors right to the editors and productors. These in all the films are at the end of the film as it is a natural way to end by giving recognition to those within the film. So basically the credits are like every film on the planet! Well I assume every film anyway...
Our Short Film
Now with the conventions in mind that were for the existing short films, here are some of the conventions from our film that we either followed, developed or subverted for one reason or another. Each image is explained below on what and why we used these features:
1. In the first image you can see this is the ident for our production team. Like in the short films researched, it is the first thing the audience see when watching our short film. We decided to follow convention for this as this is the typical place an ident is placed to enable the audience to see who has produced this film. Some audiences decide on what films to watch by who has created the film so this could also be seen as attracting the audiences. The ident is the logo for the production team so you wouldn't really want it at the end of the film would you?
2. The second image is the title. It is similar to that of the titles seen within the existing media as seen above. However, we decided to have it so that it was in the corner of the screen but still visible to the audience. We didn't want the title to be slap bang in the middle of the on screen action otherwise it would cover up Mallory as she is walking away. This title is however following the convention within a short film as the title is near the beginning of the film to state to the audience what the name of the film is really. You want the audience to see the title before they continue watching the film so we decided to place it quite close to the beginning as a nice introduction to the film (even though the title doesn't make sense to them just yet).
3. Here we see another convention being followed, the twist. In the film Mallory meets a nice male antagonist who is friendly but at the same time quite odd. We go through all the meetings between them thinking everything is fine. Later on in the film, we discover that the male isn't actually real and is in fact dead. This is the twist which is a typical convention to a short film. We followed this convention to enable the audience to have sudden changes in emotions. They build up thinking this is going to be a lovely relationship and then are let down by the sudden unexpected twist.
4. Now in this image we see the innocent protagonist. Like in One Man's Loss, Mallory is this innocent character who doesn't have much luck and, as far as we can tell, has no friends. By following the convention of an innocent lead, the audience gain feelings for this character and almost start living their life as if they were really them. Each emotion Mallory goes through the audience feels due to the ease of gathering sympathy towards the character.
5. Now in image 5 this is a subversion of many short films. The short films we viewed ended in a negative way for some of the characters. However, we decided to subvert this and follow a theory known as Todorov's Theory. This entails the character having highs and lows however, we end up leaving the character in a better place than they began. So in this case, Mallory ends up meeting another male who seems to be perfect for her and so they end, gazing into each others eyes and all the other soppy stuff! By doing this, the audience leave the film, knowing that the character is in a better place than they began; they aren't lonely anymore, well that's what the ending suggests.
6. Finally the credits were placed at the end of the film as all typical credits are. This follows convention and was done to give credit to those who starred or took part in the making of the film. We did decide to build upon the credits at the end. Rather than having the credits running on a black background, we decided to place the credits over the top of the on screen action. As Mallory and Alex walk away, we decided to have the credits over the top, as if they are walking being Mallory and Alex.
Genre Conventions
So our film follow many conventions within the shorts genre. There are other genres in which our film fits into that have conventions to be followed challenged or developed.
Our film comes under The Romance category as well as having the sub-genre of supernatural. The romance comes from the growing love between Mallory and Peter and then later on Mallory and Alex (she does get around...). The reason it has the sub genre of supernatural is due to the fact that Peter isn't real. It isn't normal for someone who doesn't exist and has died to come back and make conversation is it really? When looking at this genre within existing media products we found that some of the conventions included:
- Onscreen Romance/ relationships between characters
- Contains ghosts, goddesses and/or miracle
- Day to day life (Romance side of it is anyway!)
- Main Characters are introduced straight away
- Characters go their separate ways for one reason or another
- Often a voice over of the protagonist
So the first film we took a look at was the famous supernatural romance sequel, Twilight and then later on I will explain about other films that are similar to our film but more on that later. We looked specifically at the conventions within the first film. This film uses many of the conventions above but is it similar to ours our did we decided to challenge convention, not just to be different, but because it was a prefered storyline or element.
Here is the key frame document for the twilight clips that relate to our film with a commentary on each frame and how it relates to our film. These are all conventions followed within our film as you will see:
So our film contains many conventions of twilight, just not the part where the male lead is all sparkly because thats just stupid! As you can see the conventions within the existing sequel are prominent within our short film genre. Due to the target audience for this film being female of a younger age, we thought it would be a good idea to use conventions within the film to gain interest from this audience range too. See we don't just put things in our films for the sake of it. A thinking process is made you know!
So other than Twilight, there were other films that we found and watched to give us inspiration for the elements within our film. P.S. I love you was one of them. This comes under the category of Supernatural Romance with the death of her husband. However she is always seeing him and pretending he is there, almost as if he is ghost form. The romance within this film is a little more intense compared to that of ours with them actually being a couple unlike Mallory and Peter.
Female Representation
So it might be wise to mention the representation of females and compare it to existing films within the genre of our short film. This can range from the choice of outfit to the style of hair or personality. So here is the mise en scene just within Mallory's looks:
Through the power of mise en scene and research of existing films, we've successfully represented our characters through their outfits as well as in some ways tricking the audience into thinking characters are someone they really aren't. Thats the beauty of the media world! We can control your minds mwahahaha!
Music Conventions:
When doing the research for our genre of film, we research and listened to the soundtracks that were used within the films to see if this was the style we were aiming for. Within many of the films we watched, the music was soft and light to represent the personality of the person. For example, the music below is taken from twilight and is Bella's Lullaby. Why not take a listen:
Now as you can hear from the music, majority of the piece contains only one instrument, a piano. This delicate and quite high pitched piece of non diegetic music represent the delicate and fragile personality of the protagonist female.The soft music represents a hegemonic female personality as well as their physical state. Within the moments when this music is played, the audience instantly feel that Bella, the protagonist, is elegant and delicate, almost like a flower (soppy, I know). The filmmakers didn't want her to be seen as frumpy and loud. It clearly represents her character well as we see on screen in the mise en scene.
Another piece of music that was used to gather conventions and ideas for our film was from the film Time Traveler's Wife about a man who just disappears and travels forwards and backwards in time but his wife suffers for his issue as well as their relationship. When the male disappears each time, soft music is played along side the action on screen to build up the sadness and emotions the female is going through due to the constant disappearance of her husband. This piece below was the main soundtrack we listened to from this film.
Our Music
So within our film we have a variety of piece of music to represent the different emotions within the film. Mallory's music for when she wakes up is rather delicate which represents either the slow and steady waking up of her in the morning or, reflects her personality in that she is a rather elegant, quiet person. We never hear her say anything within the first how many seconds of the clip so the music just emphasises the unsociable elements of her personality. It is similar to that of Bella's Lullaby as you will have heard earlier from twilight with the delicate music that is played when she appears, almost like a recurring motif. Take a listen:
The romantic genre comes through clearly when the female and the male keep bumping into each other. When we first meet the male the music is rather romantic but not too obvious that they are going to fall in love, get married and live happily ever after. It is subtle which is what we found within the music above from existing media. The music throughout the meetings right through to the last meeting becomes more and more romantic with majestic instruments such as glockenspiels but still keeping with the piano. By doing this it builds the audience up to think they are going to fall in love but are let down later on when the female find out the male is dead. This follows the conventions of romance films as whenever you see a couple that you think are going to fall in love, you know by the style of music. The elegant instruments such as violins and pianos shows the delicate relationship blooming, like a rose (oh no....I'm getting soppier by the minute!).
Like in the Time Traveler's Wife music, when something happens within the relationship, the music becomes sadder and more emotive through change in key from major to minor (putting my music knowledge into practise). So when Mallory discovers Peter isn't real, the music becomes minor and represents the disappointment as well as shock within Mallory's head about the loss of what could have been romance. Also another conventional music choice is when Mallory begins her morning again next day after finding out Peter doesn't exist. The music is deep and emotive, showing how much Peter meant to her. This follows the conventions of Romantic films, like in Time Traveler's Wife, as the music represents how meaningful the relationship was when it is torn apart.
Challenge and Developing:
As well as the conventions that we followed within our film's genres, we also challenged and developed a few ideas to give our film a spin on the hegemonic ideas. Not all films follow all conventions of its genre and so we decided to change it up a bit and add our own spin on our film but we still had to ensure our audience were attracted to the film. So in a way it was a bit of a risk take to change some of the conventions of our film's genre but thankfully it worked with the subtle details and changes made. Why not take a look at the prezi below to find out more:
So as you can see, there are a variety of different convention from the genres within our film that have been followed or in some cases subverted. The films mentioned have had a huge impact on the decisions that we made when creating our film. As I have said, the media industry has a way of manipulating its audiences minds once they know exactly what they want through research and careful planning.
