Q1: IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCTION USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS & CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?
Convention is another important term and concept. It indicates the “establishment”, the established way of doing something, or understanding something. It’s what we see as natural, we’re so used to these conventions that we don’t even see them anymore, and definitely don’t see what their effect is, or how they affect us. The Short film 'The Doppelganger' uses, develops and challenges the forms & conventions of traditional real media products. The short film adhered to the traditional forms and conventions of contemporary film in many ways such as the number of characters and the budget that is usually used. In the process of creating this short film, other films were considered for inspirational purposes such as 'About a girl' and 'Two cars one night'. Both of these films consist of 4 or less characters and were made with an extremely low budget, however were still able to convey a deep message, keeping the audience intrigued.
Much like 'About a girl' and 'Two cars one night', the aim of 'The Doppelgänger' was to intrigue an audience in a non traditional way, rejecting the norms and conventions of contemporary hollywood. This short film played a specific role in the world of short film by adding an element of grittiness, paranoia and confusion all while staying true to the genre of social realism.
Social realism was chosen as a genre for this film in order to challenge the conventions of modern day cinema. Social realism is displayed in the short film through the use of elusive editing techniques such as transitions, cross cuts and dissolves. The Mise-en-scene within the film would also convey social realism because of the use of alcohol, drugs and the location of south east london. The sound within the film also assists by allowing the viewer to be apart of the film through the use of real life sound effects which reflect the environment of the protagonist and the use of a voice over which brings emotion to the the film. A voice over is key within this short film and adheres to the norms and conventions of traditional short film because it allows the audience to gain a greater understanding of what the film is about, while also working as a great tool for the character development of a protagonist. Lastly, it was very important to examine camera shots/angles used in short films such as 'About a Girl' and 'Mr. Happy' because the angles used in these films were specifically used to provoke a particular emotion. For example, in the short film 'About a Girl' a panning view from a bench is used to show the character at first but then to bring the audience into the knowledge of the main characters surroundings and how she is reacting to the environment. This exact camera shot was used in "The Doppelgänger; because it provides the audience with information regarding the emotions of the protagonist while also staying true to the genre of social realism.
Therefore these four media languages were used to adhere to the forms and conventions of media products but also to develop or push the boundaries with the use of its own unique elements.
One narrative theory that was adhered to and developed upon was the enigma code by Roland Barthes. The enigma code was seen as an intriguing theory in the development process of our film because it did not represent the ordinary storyline used in most films and challenges the norms and conventions of hollywood cinema in many ways. This is due to the fact that there is no linear narrative within this theory and does not provide the audience with an idea of what will happen next within the film. One film that executed this theory perfectly was a short film released recently named 'Mr. Happy'. There is no structural timeline within this short film and the audience is ultimately surprised in the end when they find out that a support character was actually the protagonist. This method of developing film was enticing during the creation of 'The doppelgänger' and service as a blue print for how our film would be modelled. Although we wanted to push the boundaries of our short film, we still wanted to keep the concepts used in modern day short film. Therefore 'The Doppelganger' had to be very realistic, intriguing and the events of the film had to be able to take place in a normal everyday situation.
A twist, which is extremely common in short films was selected in the process of developing a tory and git perfect into the objective of our short film which was to intrigue an audience while also keeping consistent elements of social realism. The twist at the end of 'The Doppelganger' was used to make the storyline more interesting and to also follow the enigma code of learning the audience with the responsibility of creating their own inference on what occurred.
Another norm and convention that we followed with the process of this film was the choice of not having CGI or any other technologically advanced techniques. CGI was never in the discussion when developing the film because we knew that social realism had to have a certain amount of 'realism' to it in order for the classification to be valid.
Although many forms and conventions of ordianry film were followed, narrative theories such as Vladimir Propps and Todorov's were completely disregarded due to the lack of having an antagonist in our film. We revolved the story completely around the protagonist, leaving her with the responsibility of deciding her own faith and although the protaganist was effected by another character within the film, a clear cut antagonist was not established in the film.
Social realism was chosen as a genre for this film in order to challenge the conventions of modern day cinema. Social realism is displayed in the short film through the use of elusive editing techniques such as transitions, cross cuts and dissolves. The Mise-en-scene within the film would also convey social realism because of the use of alcohol, drugs and the location of south east london. The sound within the film also assists by allowing the viewer to be apart of the film through the use of real life sound effects which reflect the environment of the protagonist and the use of a voice over which brings emotion to the the film. A voice over is key within this short film and adheres to the norms and conventions of traditional short film because it allows the audience to gain a greater understanding of what the film is about, while also working as a great tool for the character development of a protagonist. Lastly, it was very important to examine camera shots/angles used in short films such as 'About a Girl' and 'Mr. Happy' because the angles used in these films were specifically used to provoke a particular emotion. For example, in the short film 'About a Girl' a panning view from a bench is used to show the character at first but then to bring the audience into the knowledge of the main characters surroundings and how she is reacting to the environment. This exact camera shot was used in "The Doppelgänger; because it provides the audience with information regarding the emotions of the protagonist while also staying true to the genre of social realism.
Therefore these four media languages were used to adhere to the forms and conventions of media products but also to develop or push the boundaries with the use of its own unique elements.
One narrative theory that was adhered to and developed upon was the enigma code by Roland Barthes. The enigma code was seen as an intriguing theory in the development process of our film because it did not represent the ordinary storyline used in most films and challenges the norms and conventions of hollywood cinema in many ways. This is due to the fact that there is no linear narrative within this theory and does not provide the audience with an idea of what will happen next within the film. One film that executed this theory perfectly was a short film released recently named 'Mr. Happy'. There is no structural timeline within this short film and the audience is ultimately surprised in the end when they find out that a support character was actually the protagonist. This method of developing film was enticing during the creation of 'The doppelgänger' and service as a blue print for how our film would be modelled. Although we wanted to push the boundaries of our short film, we still wanted to keep the concepts used in modern day short film. Therefore 'The Doppelganger' had to be very realistic, intriguing and the events of the film had to be able to take place in a normal everyday situation.
A twist, which is extremely common in short films was selected in the process of developing a tory and git perfect into the objective of our short film which was to intrigue an audience while also keeping consistent elements of social realism. The twist at the end of 'The Doppelganger' was used to make the storyline more interesting and to also follow the enigma code of learning the audience with the responsibility of creating their own inference on what occurred.
Another norm and convention that we followed with the process of this film was the choice of not having CGI or any other technologically advanced techniques. CGI was never in the discussion when developing the film because we knew that social realism had to have a certain amount of 'realism' to it in order for the classification to be valid.
Although many forms and conventions of ordianry film were followed, narrative theories such as Vladimir Propps and Todorov's were completely disregarded due to the lack of having an antagonist in our film. We revolved the story completely around the protagonist, leaving her with the responsibility of deciding her own faith and although the protaganist was effected by another character within the film, a clear cut antagonist was not established in the film.