A2 Advanced Portfolio: Evaluation Question 1 - In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop or Challenge Conventions of Real Media Texts?

This is some of the genre and form research I did at the beginning of my project. For evaluation question one I am going to use this to see if my product conformed to or challenged conventions of real media products, with reference to examples.

For example, because one of the purposes of my film is to raise awareness of dementia and because the target audience includes people who care for people with dementia, my film could be distributed online through charities such as The Alzheimer's Society and Dementia UK, or on Facebook support groups and forums where people might seek advice about dementia, as this would mean my video would reach the desired target market.

HOW MY VIDEO MIGHT LOOK ON THE DEMENTIA UK FACEBOOK PAGE

I have also used cinematography and editing which are conventional to short films. These include:

GIFS: REFRESH PAGE IF IT SAYS 'CONNECTION RESET'

Shot reverse shot is a type of continuity editing conventionally used to portray conversations on screen. I used them for conversations in all scenes as they make the narrative easier to follow for the audience and make the scene flow nicer.

Continuity refers to a way of editing which makes action in a scene continuous. It gives consistency to a story and is more interesting that just using one single shot. For example, here I have used a mid shot of Emily staring at the boxes, followed by an over the shoulder shot of her going to pick them up, then a close up of her picking it up, then a high angle shot of her turning back ground. The makes a shot that is only a few seconds long a lot more professional and nicer to watch. Continuity editing is a convention of film and television.

I used fade transitions to transport the narrative from the present to the past. These are conventional of short films, however are not so conventional for the drama/social realism genre as they could be argued to take away from the realism of the piece. A lot of mainstream drama TV and Film only uses cuts and jump cuts as these are seen as more conventional to the drama genre. Therefore using this type of editing challenges the conventions of the drama genre in order to distinguish between the past and the present.

The final scene of my film was intended to be the one with the most drama and pace as Emily is rushing through the house not being able to find her Grandad, and becoming more concerned for his safety with every passing second. I used a tracking shot so that the audience is taken on this journey with Emily to build the tension within the scene. I also used a tracking shot of Henry's shuffling feet to empathise his slow and unsteady movements which also foreshadows what is to come. I created this shot of Henry by putting the DSLR camera on a slider and pushing it alongside the actor's feet. I created smooth tracking shots of Emily by using the shoulder rig which I have used throughout the film to partially stabilise shots. I didn't want to use a tripod or a slider as this would make the shots completely still/smooth and I wanted some shake to the camera to create realism. Also in this part of the film I used some shots of Henry which were close-ups but did not show his face, I did this to connote that dementia can happen to anyone, not just Henry.

Over the shoulder shots are conventional in short film and usually used in short reverse shots to show a conversation. However in my short film one way in which I used them was in the bathroom scene. I used an over the shoulder shot of Emily looking in the mirror and then faded this into an over the shoulder shot of Henry to show the start of the flashback. I used the same over the shoulder shot for both characters to show that looking in the mirror triggered the memory for Emily. (This is the scene that I cut from the 5 minute version of my film - however I used an over the shoulder shot in the kitchen scene to show the conversation between Gen and Emily. This was used after a long shot of the kitchen and this combination of conventional film syntax helps to place the characters within the setting and develop the narrative).

Here, I have used a close up shot to give the audience a closer look at the object that Emily and Henry are talking about. In the background of the shot a TV and more ornaments can be seen, this is stereotypical mise-en-scene of an older person's house and creates verisimilitude for the audience.

I used a close-up shot of Henry's face as Emily diverts her attention back to the ornament because I wanted to show how he lets his true emotions out when no one is watching. When Emily says 'You called me Gen', Henry tries to backtrack and say that he didn't mean it and makes a joke about her hair colour. However, when Emily turns away he looks distan and worried. Then I cut to a close up of present day Emily showing her looking from the chair back to the ornament to show her thought process.

SCENE 4

Following on from the close-up I used an editing technique called an eye-line match. This is a type of continuity editing and I used it to show Emily looking back at the ornament which was part of her flashback. I used an eye-line match to show that the ornament holds a lot of significance to her, but it also holds this painful memory of the start of her Grandad's dementia because she looks at it and then quickly looks away and walks out of the room. Using this eyeline match shows the audience what Emily is seeing and brings them into the narrative and makes them sympathise with Emily's situation.

In the eyline match I used an extreme close-up of the ornament because the audience hasn't seen it in detail yet. This is another conventional shot used in film. In this shot the camera shakes to empathise Emily's sadness and shock at reliving the flashback.

High angle shots are conventionally used in film and TV. I used this one of Henry in the bathroom to convey the vulnerability that his condition leaves him in. This shot being from a high angle means that a lot of the background is visible to add depth to the scene and create verisimilitude, but Henry is still framed in a medium close-up which draws attention to and empathises how his hand shakes as he brushes his hair - shakiness and loss of coordination is a symptom of dementia. Furthermore, the fact this shot is quite wide means that when Emily runs in she can be seen lingering in the background and the whole scene doesn't consist of separate shots of them, they exist in the same shot which places the characters in the setting and the narrative together.

I have used a two shot here so that Emily can be in the scene, but as she isn't that involved in the scene and it is predominantly about Henry and Gen, she can just be in the background so the audience can still see her reactions to the way her Grandad is acting. She is on her phone which is a stereotypical behaviour of teenagers. The use of Emily and Henry in a two shot and Gen on her own connotes the divide in the family because Emily is aware of her Grandad's condition a lot more than her mum is, who is more in the dark because she isn't around as much as Emily is.

Medium close-ups are also conventional shots and used a lot during conversational sequences such as the conservatory scene. I have used it in a shot reverse shot between Gen and Henry because the frame is wide enough to convey body language whilst also being close up enough to convery facial expression and emotion of the characters.

Camera movements such as pans and titles are used in film. Here the shot began on the 'for sale' sign and then titled down slightly before panning to a long shot of the house. I used this shot to first indicate to the audience that a house is for sale and then to establish the setting to the audience. Beginning with a close up of the sign challenged conventional film syntax as usually an establishing shot would be used first to begin a film/scene. I placed my shots in this way to disorientate the viewer as this is not what they would expect to see as an opening shot and this will confuse them, reflecting the confusion that Henry is in due to his dementia. Also, starting with this shot is interesting and engages the audience from the beginning as they want to know more about the narrative.

Depth of field is used to create meaning within a text. Here I used a shallow depth of field with Gen is focus, because she is speaking, and Emily not in focus because she herself is dazed out and not paying attention to her mum as she is preoccupied by thoughts about her Grandad and his house. I wanted to use this shot so that Emily was kept in the frame to show that Emily and Gen are in this together and to establish Emily's presence in Emily's home as someone who would visit often and was/is a big part of Henry's life.

This long shot faded up from black to indicate that we are now in a different time frame - still in the past but more present than the flashback. I used a long shot to establish the setting so that the gate can be seen which was seen in the first scene to show the audience that this is at the same house. However, the use of a different long shot indicates that something is different/wrong. This was followed by a continuity sequence of Emily closing the gate, however looking back I wish I had used the same shots as the first scene for the continuity part to mirror Gen opening the gate in the first scene as I think this would've been a nice link back to the beginning of the narrative.

Like a medium close-up, a mid shot is used to show movement, body language and facial expression and emotion of a character. I used one here to show Emily's journey through the house and metaphorically her journey of coping with Henry's dementia.

I used a low angle shot to infer that Henry is on the ground after falling outside. It also connotes that Emily is now the character with power and the responsibility to help her Grandad, because Henry is now in crisis, is vulnerable and needs help for his condition. However the fact that Henry isn't seen leaves the end of the story open to interpretation and also leaves the story on a cliffhanger with the audience wondering what happens next. Another short film that is left on a cliffhanger is 'The Silent Child' (2017, dir. Chris Overton), as the film ends with the social worker walking away from the school gates visibility upset leaving the audience not knowing what happens to the deaf girl and whether her parents eventually accept that sign language is the most effective way of communicating with her.

Overall, my short film conformed to conventions of existing media texts. However it also challenged them in some areas too.

Do My Ancillary Texts Conform?

(I have taken these slides from the Prezi from my second evaluation question as I feel I have covered the conventions of the products in these slides. However there are more slides about the effectiveness of these products in evaluation question 2.)