1. Evaluation Question
One:
In what ways does your media
product use, develop or
challenge forms and
conventions of real media
products?
Holly Buck
2. When beginning the process of planning the creation of
our short film ‘18’, studying media products and their
forms and conventions were vital in order for us to
develop a piece that is closely related to other films
in the same category. Such research allowed us to
learn more about what ideas would work in our short
films and which ideas wouldn’t, and through this we
have been able to challenge and even develop
particular conventions for our own product.
Holly Buck
USE/DEVELOP:
3. One of the most important things to do when beginning work on your
short film is to research how professional short films are produced.
Through research into other short films, we found that one of the
significant traits related between them was the use of simplistic
storylines. The simplicity of each storyline not only allowed the
film to fit into the time limit of a short film, but it also allowed
the story itself to have more of an impact on the viewer in such a
short space of time. Another traditional convention is the use of a
small cast, as this also contributes to the simplicity of the
storyline. Both of these ideas we have used when producing our own
film as we feel they are not only typical features of a short film
but will also help us to produce the film to the best quality we
can.
Holly Buck
4. Our media product ‘18’ uses a variety of elements from several
media inspirations which we researched before the planning process
began. One of the significant influences we found came from a scene
in the Channel 4 series ‘My Mad Fat Diary’.
The programme particularly helped us out a lot since the genre of
our short film, teen drama, is the same genre reflected through the
series. Creatively, ‘My Mad Fat Diary’ offered us many
inspirations, in particularly the scene ‘Rae Unzips Her Fat Suit’
where the programme challenges eating disorders and the issue of
body image. This was useful when planning the bedroom scene of our
short film as it used mirrors to show self reflection and gave us
inspiration on how to represent emotions and mental health as a
teenage girl. This particular scene is one of the most hard hitting
of the series, and for this reason we wanted to use it to inspire
our short film so that we could portray the same emotions.
Holly Buck
5. Another significant inspiration towards our short film was the
Childline advert ‘Things Guys Don’t Talk About’ (2017) which
highlighted the silence around men’s mental health. The advert has
inspired our short film through its representation of men’s mental
health, in particularly as a teenager. With our characters being
around the same age we have been able to pull inspiration from the
filming of the advert, in particularly the indoor setting and the
use of mise-en-scene to represent age through phones and items
such as razors. The advert also dipped into the main issues
represented throughout our short film, and the way in which it
portrayed mental health issues has helped us to represent the same
in an impacting and accurate way. However, this particular short
film we have been able to challenge and adapt for our own script,
since our film is all female and based on female mental health and
how nowadays it is sugar-coated and not taken seriously enough.
Holly Buck
6. When it comes to narrative, all short films tend to take on board
the narrative of identifying an issue, causing equilibrium and the
sole aim of the film is so that the protagonist reverts back to
the norm/equilibrium. This form of narrative is used in several
short films as it doesn’t overcomplicate the storyline and keeps
the story on track. We used this common narrative when we began
writing the storyline for our film, as well as combining elements
of other narrative theories to make sure it fit the idea of a
montage film and represented our ideas clearly and effectively. We
wanted to ensure that our film challenged the generic media
conventions already present but not to the extent that the film
ignored all film making rules, therefore in this aspect we mostly
used and developed typical narrative conventions. However, I
mostly believe that we have challenged this convention.
Holly Buck
7. Holly Buck
CHALLENGE:
However several of these typical conventions we have also
attempted to challenge so that our overall product develops
its own individuality. Most short films tend to follow a
particular plot with a twisted ending, and although
elements of our storyline edge upon this, ours is more of
an overall representation of a particular group of people
rather than one storyline and plot. This means that we have
been able to bring in different themes and ideas throughout
our use of characters and representation, and this is why
our film will reflect more of a montage rather than a set
narrative.
8. SITUATION:
Holly Buck
Most short films tend to take an everyday situation and
flip it on its head to create a film that not only the
viewer can relate to in some ways but also be intrigued by.
Our short film challenges this typical convention, however,
as we want it to be completely relatable for any young
person watching it as a way of showing mental health issues
as normal rather than something they are not.
9. Holly Buck
TODOROV:
Todorov suggested that conventional
narratives are structured in five stages:
• A state of equilibrium at the outset
• A disruption of the equilibrium by some
action
• A recognition that there has been a
disruption
• An attempt to repair the disruption
• A reinstatement of the equilibrium
Although this typical form of narrative is
familiar to us and used in several
existing short films, our short film is
taking on a more artistic approach of
representation of mental health, therefore
it doesn’t stick particularly to this
narrative form.
10. CONCLUSION:
Holly Buck
In conclusion, although our short film does in some
aspects challenge the typical conventions and themes
of short films, particularly when it comes to
narrative and situation, overall it mostly tends to
stick to the typical conventions portrayed through
our main inspirations and other short films. This is
particularly prominent through comparisons with our
inspirations and our use of mise-en-scene and
cinematography.
