work

1. Evaluation
My aimfor thiscreative investigationwastocreate a shortfilm that reflectedmyfilmknowledge
and skillsandalsoreflectedthe filmswhichIchose tofocus on. My three focal filmswere Beastly,
The Lucky One and Dear Johnand I chose these because theywere of the same genre of Girl Online
and because the three femaleprotagonistswere similar.FormyshortfilmIdecidedtofocuson
adaptinga bookcalledGirl Online writtenbyYouTuberandbloggerZoe Sugg,akaZoella.Thisis
quite a recentnovel andisa story thatI reallylike andthoughtIcoulduse as part of my work.
Genre was a mainpart in mycreative investigationasitwas includedinmyquestionasIwaslooking
particularlyatthe romance adaptationgenre.EventhoughIfilmedwhatwouldbe anopeningtoa
film,researchingfilmsof aromance genre helpedme understandhow tobeginthe narrative
throughthe use of microelements. AsIhave filmed whatwouldbe anopeningtoa film, Ihave
startedto developanarrative whichisbasically;Penny,ateenage girl,wantstostartand
anonymousblogandas the narrative developsshe overcomeshappytimesandchallengesthatcan
threatenwhatshe has withherfamily,friendsandheridentity.
The theoriststhatI chose to focuson was Laura Mulvey(male gaze) andTessaPerkins(stereotypes).
As I have focusedonfemalesinmycreative investigation,Ihave usedLauraMulveystheory and
linkswell withmy investigationasI am focusingonhow femalesare represented.She statesthat
womenare sexualisedforthe visual pleasure throughthe use of Mise-en-scene andcamera
movementswithotherfactorscontributing.Iwantedtosee if the filmsthatIhad chosenreinforce
or challenge which,inmyopinion,Ithinktheychallenge her theory. TessaPerkinstheoryisbasedon
stereotypeswhichare made bypeople beingprejudice.Looking athertheory,IwantedPennytobe
represented inaslightlystereotypical wayasa youngfemale asI wantedhercharacter to be
relatable tothe audience.
Textual Analysisofmy own work:
Cinematography
From research,Iwas able toidentifythe conventionsof aromance/dramafilmintermsof
cinematography.Forexample,the first shotsof mysequence are of Hull whichare establishingshots
to showthe audience where thisfilmissetandalsowhen(the presentday).Ialsouseda numberof
overthe shouldershotstoshowPennytypingupon herlaptop.Ithoughtthislookseffective asit
lookslike we are lookingoverPenny’sshoulderwhilstshe istyping.
Close-upsare alsoaconventionthatIchose to follow,usingittoshootparts of town suchas the
water,hertypingon the keyboardandon herface.The close upsallow the audience tosee more in
detail of whatisgoingon.
From lookingatthe imagesbelow,Ihave incorporatedone of the filmsthatIstudied,DearJohn,
intomy ownsequence byusingasimilarstyle intermsof cinematography.The firstimage isan
establishingshotwhichsetsthe scene andthe secondimage islike the establishingshotbuthasthe
mainprotagonistinthe frame.I like seeingthiswhilstwatchingDearJohntherefore Iuseditina
similarwayinmy ownfilmbutwithmyownstyle on it.

2. Editing
Whenconsideringthe editingtechniques,Iusedsimple editsthatincludedspeedingupcertaincuts
and the simple editstoputthe image together.Aspartof the romance genre,the conventionsof
editingare quite simple,realisticeditswhichhelpconveythe realismof the film.Ichose tofollows
thisby onlyusingsimple editstomake sequencelookrealisticaswell asinteresting.Iused
continuityeditingtoshowPennyandthere journeythroughthe day,startingoff intownwhere she
istakingher blogpictureswhichthenshe isseenathome where she startsto type up herblog.Also,
as part of the genre conventionsIchose touse fadesbetweencertainclipstohave thatsmoothpace
to the filmwhichalsomatcheswell withthe beatof the music.Inoticedinthe three filmsthatI
researchedandothersthatfadesare usedquite alotto show a differentscene ending/beginningor
to have a smoothtransitionbetweenone shottothe next,suchas a montage edit.I alsoadjusting
the speedof certainclipssuchas people walkingandcars passingonthe road, speedingthe clipsup
whichlookseffective andinterestingandshowstime passinginafasterformat.
Sound
For sound,I wasmuch undecidedatthe beginningof the researchandplanning,notknowing
whetherIshouldinclude diegeticsoundortohave a soundtrackplayingthroughthe full sequence
witha voice over. I decidedtouse the ideaof havingthe soundtrackplayingthroughoutthe
sequence andhave avoice overtoo. For the soundtrack,Ihad chosenthe instrumental versionof
TaylorSwiftsBlankSpace at firstas I thoughtthe beatsof itwouldgo well withmyideas.Duringthe
editingprocessIfeltlike the songdidnotfitinto mysequence asI wasputtingthe footage together,
therefore Ichangeditto a backingtrack whichis usedina lotof videosonYouTube toput inthe
background.Thismusicwasmore funand excitingwhichreallysuitedthe sequence thatIhad. For
the voice overI usedmyfriendas,due to time a

3. Mise-en-scene
Location,costume,make-up,propsandlightingall come under Mise-en-scene`andisan important
part inthe romance genre.Lookingatcostume and make-upIwantedtomake sure that I portrayed
Pennyinthe correct wayas I wantedto challenge the theorists thatIhave studied.The theorists
that I studiedwere LauraMulveywiththe Male Gaze theoryand TessaPerkinswiththe stereotypes
theory.Iwantedto portrayPennyina way that didnot sexualisedherbutalsorepresentedherasa
youngfemale.Forthe shotsintownshe wore blackcoat, leggingsandbootswitha white jumper
whichherbags whichchallengesthe theoriststhatIhave studiedasshe isnot dressedina
sexualisedwaywhichrepresentsherina positive way. Whenshe isinthe bedroomshe iswearing
blackleggingsanda sleevelesstopwhichcanbe seenconformingtoLaura Mulvey’stheoryasshe is
showingherbodybutshe is notdoingthisin a sexual way.The topitself isaloose fittherefore not
emphasizingherfigure.Penny’shairandmakeupissubtle andnatural to make herlike a positive
role model forgirlswhowouldwatchthisfilmsif itwasa real filmproduct. Lookingatmy three focal
films,the femaleprotagonistsfollowasimilardresscode of casual clothingandminimal make-up
witha simple hairstyle.
In termsof location I chose to shootinthe Hull CityCentre because itfollowsconventionsof a
romance genre.Urban areas,especiallytowncentres,are quite conventional whichIhave seenin
filmssuchas Bride Wars,2009, and The Devil WearsPrada,2006. I also the girl I am usinginmy films
bedroom.Ithoughtit wasimportantthat I usedherbedroomasit reflectedherpersonalityandisa
goodrepresentationof ayounggirl’sroom.Choosingtoshootina bedroomratherthan another
room suchas a Livingroomwasbecause I have seeninfilmssuchasAnotherCinderellaStoryand
What a Girl Wants theyinclude the bedroomsif the girlswhichhelpthe audience understandtheir
personalities.
How doesyourfilmreflectanddevelopthe findingsfromyourresearchandplanning?
How doesyourfilmconformtothe appropriate technical andgenericcodesandconventions(in
termsof camerawork,lightingandmise-en-scène)?

4. Does your blog and filmdemonstrate a good approach to time management?
I have takena lot of efforttomake sure mybloglookgood andreflectmyworkin a positive way.
Before thisacademicyear,Ihad neverusedTumblrtherefore Ifounditimportanttolearnthow the
use it.I learntthe basicsof whatI neededtoknow throughbothfriendsandthe internetwhich
allowedme tocustomize myblogandknow how to add posts. I wouldsayoverall myblogandfilm
doeshave a good approachto time managementasIhave planneda lotinthe process.Forexample
I receivedfeedbackon myfilmwhichtherefore pushedme togetitfinished,takinginto
considerationwhatpeople have said.