Evaluation Question 2

Question 1

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

Continuity is an important convention to uphold as it helps maintain the realism of a film, without it the film would not seem to ‘flow’ and the concept would fall apart. We planned carefully to make sure there was continuity and although there were come small mistakes they’re not particularly noticeable due to the idea behind the story; for example originally in the story the day 'Carrie' gets the drugs from 'Oliver' is supposed to be the same day she takes the drugs with 'Jared' however on the day of filming we didn’t realise but as the filming had gone so well we kept it and because the story was things from her point of view if scenes seemed a bit unnatural or confusing I just related to the unravelling of 'Carrie’s' mind.

We used shot-reverse-shot in conversations, we were careful to follow the 180 degree rule again to keep the realism throughout our film and we also followed the 30 degree rule so any shots that got closer up or further away could be edited together more smoothly.

Typical narrative conventions of a drama film genre include; conflict, characters in a situation that is easy to relate to and usually a form of realisation at the end or a happy ending.

We reflect these conventions as we have ongoing conflict between ‘Carrie’ and ‘Jared’; two characters which are realistic and easy to relate to, where he’s trying to push her into smoking, drinking and taking drugs; the main characters are in a typical peer pressure situation that many adolescents face and there’s a huge twist at the end where ‘Carrie’ realises ‘Jared’ is dead. There is a not a particularly happy ending as we want it to be realistic and most stories like this don’t end happily, the most positive outcome in this is that ‘Carrie’ doesn’t die when trying to commit suicide.

We use strange colour effects through parts of the film to emphasise 'Carrie' losing her mind, which is something I'd seen done in the film Mental in which the majority of the film is in a bright colour that makes it look abnormal but works with the storyline and characters. This 'plays' with the conventions of the drama genre as it makes it look unrealistic, however it's done for a reason and as a whole improves the scene a lot.

I have looked at some typical stereotypes, which are important in our film, such as race. For example in many films the black characters are drug dealers and pushing it upon white characters, however in our film we have a white drug dealer and it turns out ‘Carrie’ is mentally unhinged which is why she’s taking drugs so it’s not the fault of ‘Jared’; so here we have broken this racial stereotype.

However a stereotype we follow is having a mentally unhinged female character, which tends to be the case in many films such as Sybil, Mental and Girl, Interrupted. Females tend to have weaker characters that are in some way broken not only in the “psychological” genre but also in paranormal films such as The Exorcist, as explained by the theory of the male gaze.

Gratifications Audience Theory has four categories; education, role models, socialization and entertainment. Our film educates the audience by demonstrating what it can be like to have a mental disorder and the severe consequences it can have on a person. Socialisation relates to our film as people may want to discuss the psychological symptoms our film demonstrates, the way we emphasised things and the shocking twist at the end. Also, as the audience would hopefully empathise with ‘Carrie’s’ situation, our film is quite emotional it is relatable to entertainment.

Also our film relates to Richard Dyer’s Theory of Entertainment which includes; energy, abundance, intensity, transparency and community. Our film relates to intensity due to the high emotions and ongoing conflict, between ‘Jared’ and ‘Carrie’ and in ‘Carrie’s’ own mind. It relates to energy as there is suspense and tension created particularly through the editing we’ve used. Finally there is transparency which flips the story and our ideas of the characters when the twist is revealed at the end.

 

 

Evaluation Question 4

http://prezi.com/fmxb9wialzni/critical-evaluation/#

Evaluation Question 1

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

In the format of an illustrated essay.

Throughout our film it was essential to use a variety of effective camera angles, shots and techniques through editing. By using these different techniques, it allowed us to portray the correct impression to our audience, which made it easier for them to understand what we were portraying. It also helps distinguish which emotion the audience are expected to feel when watching sections of the film which builds a better understanding. As you can tell on this first screenshot, the angle of the camera makes Oliver look more superior in comparison to Carrie.
The facial expressions also emphasize the power Oliver has in this scene, as his face is very serious and Carrie shows a look of confusion. This also projects the amount of tension displayed by both characters, which can distinguish the type of relationship Carrie and Oliver have, which is not a very pleasant one.

The editing of our film played a very important role as it allowed us to be creative with our film and help us project the correct message to the audience in a better way. It was essential that all the shots had a high level of continuity so each shot could flow to the next without any disturbances. In this second screenshot, the scene is based around Carrie consuming the drugs that are given by Jared and in terms of editing we used SFX to emphasize the use of drugs. By using small frames of the previous scenes, it created a fast paced, intense moment which also demonstrated the effect of drugs when they are consumed, this made it look and feel more realistic to the audience.




The third screenshot shows the dramatic ending of Carrie and Jared and with the use of editing, we were able to make this suicidal ultimatum look and sound realistic without any injuries. This consisted of making sure all the shots were smooth and all fit together.







Our film is a psychological drama and it concentrates on the main character, which is Carrie and also her psychological state. We did this purposely from our research of our genre and it clearly showed that the main character is always focused on especially their psychological state. In our film the twist is revealed at the end where it is obvious that Carrie has a mental disorder in which she is in denial about and has not yet accepted it but she comes to the realization at the end.Carrie seems to have brought to different lives together and is living in denial of Jared's death, in which she has created her own reality in order to come to terms with Jared's death.
     
In terms of the conventions of films, the stereotypical judgement would insinuate that African American people are associated with drugs. However, in our film we have purposely twisted the racial convention to the point where at first the audience would think that it is Jared that is peer pressuring Carrie into consuming those drugs, but in the end the audience learn that it was Carrie leading herself into that state and not Jared.


As a group when we first discussed our ideas about what type of film we were aspiring to produce, my research lead me to a film called 'Identity.' This film can relate to our film as it is about a patient with a mental disorder who believes in a different reality. There difference is that is based on one main character but their mental state means that they believe that they are five other people, which leads to them killing people. The twist to this film is similar to our film as it is only revealed at the end and the connection of the characters is revealed to the audience.





Our story line is similar to a short film on YouTube called 'Paranormal.' I used this film as an example for my research and previous blog work. This is about a boy who wakes up to a normal setting in his home with his mother and father, to soon be informed by a police officer that his parents were involved in a car accident. So he is left wondering to himself who was he having a conversation with moments before.

This moment of realization on this screenshot is very similar to the moment of realization Carrie experiences when she is informed about Jared's death. Both moments fit well with the concept of the twist and show that both characters are finding it hard to cope with the death of their loved ones.





Our film relates well with the Uses and Gratification Theory, which is sectioned into four categories;
education, role models, socialization and entertainment. Our film educates the audience about the severity of mental disorders and also demonstrates what it is like to live in a psychological state on a daily basis. It also educated the audience about the racial stereotype and how it is overly used in our every day lives and how it can be broken. It is also relatable to the entertainment side, as it is very emotional and the audience can also sympathies with the Carrie and Jared as it is not a pleasurable experience for any one.

Our film also relates to Richard Dyer's Theory of Entertainment, which is sectioned into four categorizes; energy, abundance, intensity, community and transparency. Our film relates to intensity as it contains emotional scenes, especially at the end when Carrie comes to terms with the Jared's death which is an emotional subject for Carrie.Transparency is also shown in our film as Carrie is displayed as a very vulnerable character when the twist is revealed at the end. The audience can only sympathize with Carrie as she is going through a tough time, which is understandable with her unstable psychological state.