2. QUESTION
In what ways does your media
product use, develop or
challenge forms and
conventions of real media
products?
3. CODES AND CONVENTIONS USED IN
SHORT FILM
We began by looking at codes and conventions of short films, so we knew
what needed to included in our short film and to arrange the structure, in
terms of narrative, genre and character. There are many factors that makes a
short film differentiate from a feature length film. These may include a short
film to have a more established narrative, a more gritty storyline, based on
visual art and plot twists. This may have a clear protagonist from the
beginning of the film and may look through the perspective of one character
throughout. A short film may have larger freedoms than a feature length film
and may take higher risks. Also, setting a target audience is always harder
for a short film, as the audience classifications are more specific, as a lot less
people watch short films opposed to feature lengths. This meant, we had to
aim our film on a more set audience and research and gather audience
feedback. Other aspects of codes and conventions in the short film meant
that we had to have a strong script, substantial acting skill, an exciting plot,
which demonstrated new ideas and techniques.
4. DURATION
A film is normally classified as a “short film” when its length reaches the
maximum of 30 minutes. However, short films normally vary from 10-25
minutes. I attempted to keep the film as close to 10 minutes as, this fit the
films specification the most. This is because it is dialogue based, meaning
more than 15 minutes of dialogue would become too lengthy and could
cause the audience to loose interest. This totalled our film to a time of 13
minutes and 25 seconds. The pace of our film is slow, which leaves the
audience in longer anticipations and keeps them speculating, whenever they
find out new information. The information that is revealed is a slow release,
meaning the shock factor is prolonged, which fits the criteria of a
psychological thriller. This also means that the audience are aware of what is
happening and aren’t getting bored of the dialogue, as the dialogue has
intervals of revealing information, this keeps the audience alert. This shows
that we used the codes and conventions of short films, to set the pace and
duration of our film.
5. BUDGET
Short films differentiate from feature length film massively in the terms of
their budgets. Short films are normally made on a smaller budget, with
access to a small amount of equipment and software. This is due to the fact
that most short film makers are independent and have no previous feature
length films. These short film makers may not have sufficient backing, in
terms of funding, meaning they can only use the software and equipment
that is accessible to them. Whilst making this, we experienced working on a
low budget, and may have effected our short film. However, this fits the
definition of a short film. We dealt with filming on a low budget by, filming in
four different locations, all local to us and easily accessible. This meant we
didn’t have to pay to use land and only needed professional consent once,
when filming in the graveyard. However, we did ask for ownership consent to
film at Katie's house. This shows that the equipment we used and the style
of editing that occurred in our short film was because of a low budget, which
is seen in the codes and conventions of short films.
6. CHARACTERS
Short films tend to have a small number of actors and actresses. This may be because of having a low budget. Although the
reason behind this, is because short films consist of a simpler narrative plot, to a feature length film, meaning it isn’t
overcomplicated for the audience to follow and figure out the characters. By having a small amount of characters in our short
film, I was able to make the storyline simplistic. This was effective as the audience could relate to each character and be
certain as to who they are and what roles they play the part of in the film. By doing this, I could spend more time on knowing
how to portray and dig deeper into the characters and looked at representations and stereotypes I could give to each
character.
Furthermore, we researched into Vladimir Propp’s character and narrative theory to understand the types of character traits
and roles that we could apply to each character in our film. We also used stereotypical characteristics for each character, so
the audience could relate to the clearly, so they didn’t get confused as to what roles they played within the film. Most of this
was demonstrated in the script. However there were other subtle hints. We over accentuated the casts characteristics, for
example, Richard played the part of a retired man in his late 60’s, who is kind, caring and joyful. He also shows signs of his
love for his life, connoting he has little regrets in life and has lived a fulfilled life.
We stereotyped our female protagonist, Eve as her vulnerability stemmed from her youth. We did this by having her is a white
dress, to connote her innocence through the use of purity within the dress she was wearing. The colour of Eves dress was
white, which implies fairness and impartiality, neutrality and independence, which helped me demonstrate Eve’s
characteristics. However, the colour white can be cold, isolating and empty. This describes Eve as a ghost and explains she
may not be fully human, which concludes our research when looking at how to represent a ghost in film.
Lastly, the character David was stereotyped as a middle aged loving father, who was grieving and lonely. We represented this
in our film during scripting, as his outlook on life is very negative and still revolves around those that he has loved and lost. We
also represented that he is grieving as he came across unkempt and struggles to look after himself as he has lost hope. We
implied this by setting his costume to look old, worn and mismatched, as well as making the scenery he was living in messy by
scattering news papers and rubbish in the shots.
7. NARRATIVE THEORY
Another convention in short film, is to demonstrate a clear narrative
structure. Tzvetan Todorov (narrative theorist) solved the structure to every
narrative and saw a common theme in how stories were told. We have
researched his theory, which explained, every story starts with an equilibrium
to set the film and introduce one of our protagonists. This shows normality to
the beginning of the film. This makes the audience comfortable and allows
them to get to grips with the film. The disequilibrium then follows, which
shows a problem that the main characters are faced with. The climax follows
this, as the problems become solved and the character roles are made clear.
Because of the climax/new equilibrium, the narrative goes back to normal
and characters can carry on with their lives. However, a change is
noticeable. This shows that we have researched into the concept of a short
film narrative and looks into codes and conventions of a film narrative similar
the psychological thriller, that we set out to make. I did this by deconstructing
short films of the same genre, such as a short film called “the return”
8. CODES AND CONVENTIONS USED IN A FILM
POSTER AND MAGAZINE REVIEW
The codes and conventions in a film poster really helped me, when making a film
poster in relation to our short film. I could understand what was included in a film
poster, I deconstructed film posters of a similar genre and narrative structure.
Because of using these codes and conventions, I have connoted easy to read
semiology of Eve’s character coming across as pure, vulnerable and innocent,
effectively. Also with using the set codes and conventions for a film poster, the
audience could understand our film narrative and could understand, that this was a
film poster for a psychological thriller. I further researched into how we could use
Mise en Scene in our film poster, which is shown throughout our research. This
further connotes symbolic messages to our audience, so they can derive their own
personal perceptions of Eve, the protagonist on the front of the poster. This follows
and uses codes and conventions on within our complete media product. We also
looked into codes and conventions into a review, such as having press companies
giving their feedback and thoughts of the film, ratings, pull quotes from an authors
description of the mood of the film and layout of the magazine article and how it is
written, in terms of format. This shows the use of the two step theory, as the
audience reads other peoples perceptions on the films narrative and may begin to
expect things from the narrative, before seeing the film.
9. MAIN IMAGE
We followed the codes and conventions of a short films poster image, by using Mise
en Scene to draw the audience’ attention into the film. We also used body posture, as
well as setting a relevant location of the image, to connote Eve was young and
vulnerable, scare and cold. I have shown understanding of this, as Eve’s posture is
hunched up, representing that within the film, she keeps herself to herself. This
contrasts with the normal behaviour of a teenager, as normally they are seen as
outgoing and confident. Furthermore, this shows that there may be a
problem/something different about this teenage girl, as she isn’t showing the normal
characteristics of a young and outgoing youth. By setting the location of the film on
the moors on the film poster, this establishes one of the main locations on the film,
represents the spooky thriller aspect , as it goes against the normality of a young girl
being in such a place late at night, where she is at her most vulnerable as it may be
seen as a dangerous place for her to be. Additionally, this creates empathy given
from the audience towards Eve. Empathy is given, as they will see a young
vulnerable girl and want to know if she is okay and what will happen to her. Moreover,
this shows we have used codes and conventions as this shows we have considered
the Barthes theory as they see this image as an enigma and want to know if she is
okay.
10. …
We also used conventions of a film review in a magazine, as we found
out that the images that are used are likely to be stills from the film, as
having a character shot that is planned, may give away too much about
the film. Whereas, if there are stills that are shown in a magazine review,
it gives the audience a real grasp of the film and they can see the action
taking place. This represents the two step theory, as the audience will
see these pictures and make their own minds up about the film and
expect things within the narrative. This is beneficial for use as, with the
pictures we have used, the audience would not possibly guess the
outcome of the narrative, which leaves the ending of our film a mystery
to the audience, which is beneficial to us, as it is more of a reason for the
audience to go and watch the film. However, we did use relevant images
as it introduces the main characters and does represent the storyline as
Richard hands Eve his coat, which is a crucial part to this film, as the
coat connects Eve with her father . The other image used , is to
introduce Eves Father, Richard.
11. DISTINCTIVE GENRE
Another aspect of using codes and conventions, to develop our short
film was making sure that our genre of film (psychological thriller) was
distinctive from looking at the poster. From the use of lighting and colour.
The colour uses dark tones and is dark in terms of lighting to signify the
time and the idea of being “Lost in the Eve” From the use of Richards
face being faded out, it connotes an era of intensity within the film
poster. This also introduces characters in an effective way and shows
he may be the secondary protagonist. We looked at placement and
context to make the layout and structure effective and to look
professional. This made the film poster leaving the audience in
suspense. We also used media theory along with the codes and
conventions to refer to any element of the story that is not fully
explained, which then becomes a mystery to the audience. We also
maintained the enigma within the film poster, as the type of shot looked
mysterious and the faded opacity of Richards character caused
suspicion to his character.
12. TEXT
By researching into codes and conventions, we found a form of
text layout that we could incorporate Into our film poster and
magazine review. This meant that every film poster had a
specified layout of text to fit the theme of the film. This
explained how different colours of text may represent different
things e.g. red for romance or danger, blue for sci-fi and pink
could represent typical chick flick themes. This meant that
myself and my media production group decided on a dark
colour scheme to emphasize the “thriller” theme to our film, as
Eve’s background is quite dark as the audience gets to know
her. We also made the text bold, to accentuate the importance
of Eve’s role in the film and the hidden words lost in the show
the isolation and desolation, that Eve was experiencing.
13. DEVELOPS
Our short film was an original idea that myself and the media production team
thought up of, meaning I didn’t really develop codes and conventions. I chose not to
develop codes and conventions, as I researched into codes and conventions of a
psychological drama, to ensure that my short film fit the criteria of similar media
products. I decided to USE these conventions to make our film look effective and
professional. This also helped me understand what went into a short film. Also, there
were no influences or similar products in relation to our narrative as the film is a
psychological thriller, meaning the storyline was not one of those ‘typical’ narrative as
seen in Vladimir Propp’s narrative theory. However, one development to the codes
and conventions I used to benefit the short film was avoiding the use of extreme
close up shots. The group decided to avoid this because we felt as it would disrupt
the pace of the film, as we wanted a slow pace but too many shots like this would
have made the too intense and cutting edge, meaning the pace may have been
faster than we wanted. This is why we used simplistic shots with a creative flare at
the end, so the audience could focus on the important part, which was the dialogue
spoken within the film. By leading up to the thrill in a slow pace, it adds tension to the
film, fitting the theme and mood of the short film, as well as the genre.
14. USE OF REALISM
Realism means the way the audience is to interpret what is happening in a
situations and how they can apply it to normality. In other words, this
means how much of a narrative the audience would find believable. I have
developed codes and conventions in the film with the use of realism, as it
would be pushing the boundaries of realism if Eve was to be at the
graveyard to hand Richard his coat back. This would push the boundaries,
as too many questions would spiral from audience speculation. However,
we have developed this as the coat moves from one place to the other,
showing the psychological thriller side to our film. Our audience can relate
to this and may not ask questions, as they know it is a psychological thriller
and the last scene proves its genre. This also means that the audience
can accept and relate to the narrative instead of questioning it, because at
this point they will have lost interest as to what is believable and become
attached to the narrative. This also gives a sense of audience engagement
within the film.
15. CHALLENGING CODES AND
CONVENTIONS
I didn’t intend much on challenging the codes and
conventions in my short film, as I used the codes and
conventions to plan and follow the conventions of other
films, to make mine of a professional standard. However, I
attempted to challenge some conventions, as leaving the
audience in anticipation, proved a good narrative and
meant that I had achieved setting the right genre I wanted
within the short film.
16. NARRATIVE AND THEORY
Our narrative wasn’t quite set as there was no real resolution to the
film. This meant that we did not fully use Tzvetan Todorov’s theory, as
our film didn’t quite follow narrative structure he made. This was
because it was a psychological thriller, meaning there was no real
resolution to the film. Myself and the media production team did this as
we wanted to leave the audience guessing who Eve was and how
Richard gave her a lift home, if she has been dead over 4 years. We
did this to fit the film into the genre. Normally, short film portray genuine
and realistic narratives, that the problem can be relatable to the
audiences every day life. However, I may have challenged this
concept, as it is seen as supernatural, with the use of having a
ghost/spirit within the narrative. Nevertheless, we still represented
normalisation, as we embodied a father/daughter relationship, which is
relatable to the audience, as they may picture their own relationship
17. PROPP’S THEORY
Myself and the media production team researched into Vladimir Propp and his theory of character
types. This helped as I understood the many types of characters and applied to the cast set in our
film.
However, we challenged this convention of a short film, as all of the characters traits were not
represented within the film, only the ones I felt were relevant to each character.
For example Richards character was seen in some lights to be the hero. This was because he
chose to accept the mission of taking eve home and delivered the message to Eve’s father to ask
him for forgiveness on Eves behalf and passed the message on that Eve loved him. As David’s
guilt was put rest and had reconciled with his daughter. This further provided comfort for David’s
character. This was because of the work of the hero (Richard)
Eve is seen as the dispatcher, as she sent Richard to her father to deliver the message. Eve sent
Richard on his journey to David and made him question Eve’s existence.
The coat could represent the donor, as this is the element that caused the twist, in the narrative. It
is not seen as a magical object, but did lead to the realisation that Eve was a ghost.
To conclude, we did apply some of the character traits to our cast. But there was no false hero. In
our film, not one character fitted more that one of the character types, going against Propp’s theory.
This also show that we challenged codes and conventions as not every character type was seen in
our film.
18. POSTER AND MAGAZINE
I challenged codes and conventions in the film ,as most posters
create a character still which semiology is used to break down
and express their individuality, role in the film and characteristics
they may put forward. However, we made Eve the importance of
our film and built the poster around her. We then had a smaller
picture of Richard, as he is the secondary protagonist. To
represent this, I lowered the opacity of Richards face in
Photoshop when editing the poster to ensure that the mise en
scene of the poster leads the focus onto Eve and then Richard in
the background. I felt it was important to have these two
characters within the poster, as their link is a vital part to the film.
With the magazine, we didn’t challenge codes and conventions,
as we wanted to follow the conventions, so we could apply the
two step theory to our work.
