[NOTE: VERSION OF KILLER HANGOVER NOT CORRECT - HAS CUT OFF THE RIGHT SIDE OF SCREEN SO HAVE NOT INCLUDED SCREENSHOTS FROM THAT MOVIE - WILL ARRANGE ON MONDAY]
1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
INTRO:
Before evaluating my product in relation to real media products conventions, it's important to recognize that the genre of short films contains some of the most diverse, experimental and unconventional pieces of work and thus, is difficult to analyse in terms of forms and conventions. However, there are a few common features that we identified during our research that helped us in the construction of our product.
Example One: Sound
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| Title shot of Lovefield |
A key aspect of our film is the soundtrack. Our main influence concerning sound was Ratthe's hybrid experiment Lovefield, which establishes itself as a thriller through an eyrie parallel soundtrack, only to undermine that with a narrative twist into drama. Although challenging the conventions of narrative, Lovefield uses the conventional soundtrack effectively, as, in order for the twist to be successful, the audience must be convinced that the film is rooted purely in the horror genre.
In a similar way to Lovefield, our narrative is reliant on a narrative twist. Although we did consider a contrapuntal soundtrack (an a capella version of The Special's Ghost Town was our first idea), it weakened the effect of the twist and destroyed the effect we were trying to achieve. As a result, a haunting track is used in the first section of the piece to suggest his hangover and to build suspense, a slightly more upbeat track is used to create a sense of urgency and silence (excluding foley sounds and dialogue) builds up the tension again when his mother arrives back. This was done to establish our audience's expectation of a horror more prominently, emphasizing the shift in genre with the twist.
Foley sounds are also key to both of the film's success; both employ the diegetic sound of a crow to convey the theme of death [crows have been used as an omen of imminent death for centuries], both use staccato string sounds for jumps and both loud/soft dynamics to generate suspense.
Foley sounds are also key to both of the film's success; both employ the diegetic sound of a crow to convey the theme of death [crows have been used as an omen of imminent death for centuries], both use staccato string sounds for jumps and both loud/soft dynamics to generate suspense.
Example Two: Narrative Twist and Genre Conventions
As discussed in the above example, Lovefield challenges the convential narrative outline by including a genre twist. After watching this piece, we felt inspired as a group to experiment with a narrative twist and created a narrative to work around that one concept.
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| Shots demonstrating the narrative twist in Lovefield |
Lovefield relies heavily upon stereotypical techniques from a thriller [ie. the isolated setting and use of crow in the first shot] before shifting into drama. This obedience to conventional techniques is important as, in order for the twist to be successful, the audience must be convinced that the film is rooted purely in the horror genre.
Killer Hangover also uses genre conventions to ensure the effectiveness of the twist. The setting of the entire piece is at the protagonist's secluded home in a rural area [this is emphasized by the establishing shot], referencing classic horror films like The Shining or the more contemporary Woman In Black.
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| Shot of the house in Woman in Black |
Example Three: Representation
However, Ratthe contradicts this by placing the trucker in the highly effeminate situation of childbirth. This is further developed with the trucker's positioning in a two-shot with the new born child [see above], undermining the threat that truckers are usually used to convey.
Killer Hangover also uses stereotypical representations to lull the audience into a false sense of security. Our main character is a young male who finds a dead girl in his kitchen. This offers connotations of domestic violence and rape, with the traditional interpretation of the relationship would be that the male is dominant.
However, the 'dead' girl proves not to be dead [just unconscious from an extreme amount of alchohol consumption, which in itself challenges the conventionally passive and prim representation of young women], and the young guy is not guilty of murder or rape but of throwing a party against his parent's orders. This shift of representation - from a murderer to a disobedient youth - is a further example of the genre shift and it's effect on the piece.
Example Four: Mise en Scene - Use of Props
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| Mixtape in Mixtape |
As mentioned in the intro, there are very few set conventions for short films; this is evident in the various approaches to using props. For example, in Mixtape, the prop of the mixtape to the right is used as a way of communicating a relationship between the two main characters. It develops the narrative as it offers connotations of young love and innocence, whilst also placing the film in a different context (ie. the early 1990's). The influence in this prop to the theme and genre of this piece is outstanding and a great example of how, when props are used inventively, they can transform a short film.
In a similar way, Lovefield uses the prop of a knife to communicate the theme of violence. It is used in a jump, creating audience suspense. However, as in almost every example so far, Lovefield subverts these connotations to change the genre; for example, the audience presume the knife has been used to kill the woman but, in reality, it has been used to cut the umbilical cord of the newborn baby.
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| Knife in Lovefield |
In Killer Hangover, we have used close ups on smashed glass to communicate the concept of violence. Although more subtle than a knife, it allowed our group to develop the props connotations in a similar way to Lovefield. This is achieved through the genre shift, which reveals that the smashed glass is the result of a party that was held in the house, and so the connotation is changed from violence to youthfulness.
Example Five: Editing
Editing is used in a variety of ways in short films; for example, a crystal (a prop) is used to graphic match two connected scenes in Po Chan's The Last 3 Minutes and shift the film into a retrospective narrative. This is important as the film is concerned with the life of the protagonist, WIlliam Turner's, life and shows key events to develop character. It also helps structure the narrative as, in the last scene, the crystal is a gift given to him by his father on the day he was born. Thus, the crystal is significant on the first day of his life and the day he dies.
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| Use of graphic match in The Last 3 Minutes [left to right] |
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| Sound bridge in The Last 3 Minutes |
Whilst editing Killer Hangover, we were keen to incorporate several unusual technqiues into our film. For example, we have used split screens in our piece to convey the urgency the protagonist is feeling in addition to building up suspense about his parent's imminent arrival. We have also included a clock in post-production, to emphasis the concept of time passing. This constant awareness of time passing is a technique we have used to build suspense.
Example Six: Camerawork
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| POV shot from The Last 3 Minutes |
As a group, we found several interesting uses of camerawork whilst researching. For example, POV shots are used continually in The Last 3 Minutes to emphasis the retrospective nature of it's narrative, whilst also encouraging the audience to empathise with the protagonist. For example, the POV shot on the left puts the audience in the position that the character is in - they are asked to empathise with the character that is dying [there is a close up on his face] in addition to William.
A film that influenced our use of camerawork was 44 Inch Chest, which we studied in our AS year. The film opens with slow close up's of the damage in the house. The pace of the piece challenges the usual conventions for a violent scene and so, creates suspense and focuses the audience of the violence of the scene.
This sequence had a high level of influence in the opening of Killer Hangover, with several close up's of the damage caused being shown with slow fade's used to connect them. This has a similar effect to 44 Inch Chest and builds suspense for the first time the audience meets Jordan.
POSTER:
As part of our brief, we were asked to create a corresponding poster to market our film. As a group, we researched a variety of posters although, it is important to note, struggled to find posters for short films as they are not used as prominently in the promotion of short films. However, we have incorporated our research into our final design.
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| Final poster for Killer Hangover |
Example One: Lighting
Lighting is used to convey characterisation and narrative in the poster for Animal Kingdom. For example, the genre of crime is communicated by the darkness round the edges, creating a sinister tone. Low key lighting is also used to cast shadows on the characters, particularly the main character in the center of the 'family portrait', who has a shadow dividing his face. This communicates the narrative of the film to the audience (ie. 'Animal Kingdom tells the story of a seventeen-year old as he navigates his survival amongst an explosive criminal family and the detective who thinks he can save him'). This conflict and opposition between police vs criminal, right vs wrong and family vs responsibility are all communicated by the low key lighting on his face and develops him as a character to empathise with.
In a similar way, we have used low key lighting to create a sinister feel to our product. The low key lighting has cast a shadow on one half of Jordan's face and shirt and suggests the mystery that surrounds his character. This is important as, in order for our narrative twist to work, the audience must presume him to have murdered the young girl he finds in his kitchen.Example Two: Logo
Although our short film isn't as established as The Dark Knight, we wanted the audience to be able to connect the poster to the film so designed a logo that would be used in both. Our main influence for the logo was the Artic Monkey's album cover for I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor, which is a concept album (an album with a narrative that connects the tracks) that follows a working class young man on a night out on the town, focusing on events like fighting with police [Riot Van], clubbing [Dancing Shoes] and getting wasted [I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor]. These themes are encapsulated by the logo, which emulates early 2000's alcohol warning labels. As alcohol is a key theme in our narrative, we decided to reference the same concept.
Example Three: Colour
Colour is another way in which posters can communicate themes and narratives. For example, the colour scheme for This Is England suggests the themes of nationalism that the film deals with. It also places the film firmly into an English setting, developing the context in which the film is set.As a group, we also wanted to use colour in our poster to communicate the genre and narrative of our film. The prominence of red in our poster is significant as it references the theme of blood that is involved in the film. It also communicates the violent themes contained in the film and places the film in the genre of horror. This is important to our poster as it signals the target audience of our product and develops it into marketing tool to create audience intrigue and interest in our film.
Example Four: Positioning of Character
There are several techiques for the positioning of characters that we identified during our research. For example, This Is England shows a group of characters, creating a sense of family/community. The way they are grouped together also resonates a police line up, suggesting a criminal theme in the film. The group is positioned in the bottom third of the poster, also suggesting their working class background.
However, City of Dreamers uses a different technique. The sole focus of the poster is the protagonist, Rose, suggesting her significance to the narrative. It also allows the audience to focus on her body language which, when combined with her facial expression, suggests that she has an issue from her past to resolve. The way that the rest of the poster revolves around her also suggests her prominence and also suggests that she is entering that seaside setting of the film. Her central positioning also draws the audience's focus to the guitar on her back, enforcing the musical nature of the film.
In a similar way to City of Dreamers, our protagonist is the central focus of our poster , enforcing his significance to our film. It also draws the audience's attention to his sinister body language and creates doubt over his character.
REVIEW:
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| The final LWL's review for Killer Hangover |
We also had to be aware of the conventions for both the layout and language of the print version of Little White Lies. The main way we achieved this was to study the most recent edition of the magazine and use that as a template for our review.
LAYOUT:
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| Recent LWL's review for The Artist |
One of the key conventions is the layout of the review; for example, the picture at the top is a screen shot from the film itself instead of marketing material (ie. poster) and it is slightly rounded on the edges. The font used is important as well, although we could not identically imitiate that as it is a LWL's exclusive font. The title is bold and significantly larger than the text below, which always features the director, main actors and release dates. The spacing of this text is different to the main text of the review.
In addition, the review is divided into three columns and each is justified. The first letter of the review itself is larger and in bold and the review is closed by the reviewer's name in bold. The page number is a three-digit (for number under 100, 0 is used as a prefix) and a hand drawn icon from the cover art is included next to the page number.
All of these conventions feature in the layout of our review.
TEXT:
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| Text from the LWL's review of The Artist |
There are also conventions for the text itself. LWL's is aimed at a film literate audience so references to indie and mainstream films are used to draw similarities to pre-existing movies and give the reader an idea of the style of the film. film language is also used to describe appealing technical aspects of the film, such as sound and editing. The first two paragraphs are often used to establish the plot, while the rest analyzes the techniques employed by the director. In order to create a realistic review, we have incorporated these techniques into our review for Killer Hangover
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