Q1

1. Evaluation Question 1: In what way does
your media product use, develop or
challenge forms and conventions of real
media products?
By Megan Vincent

2. Conventions of our genre
O For the genre of a social realism drama, below are the
corrections we wanted to challenge or meet;
O Locations tend to be real and urban i.e not set up in a
Hollywood studio
O Wide shots
O Non-professional actors i.e debut/stock actors
O Semi improvised scripts
O Characters in lower working classes i.e D-E income brackets
O Possible of removal or regional identities
O Presentation of social issues by emotional and individual
stories i.e plot should have a realistic approach
O Triumph over adversity

3. Conventions of institutions: British
Independent Film Company
O Seek support of other companies in co-
production and distribution
O Companies lack vertical integration
O Challenge conventions
O Have a small budget regarding actors

4. Where did we meet/challenge
them? LOCATION
O Generally, our locations tended to be conventional to
our genre because we included shots in a high street
environment and an urban train station. Therefore, we
were able to utilise mis-en-scene to meet the narrative
convention of young people and less sophisticated,
with common areas. However, I think that we didn't
not achieve this due to the large, grandeur kitchen that
Ethan finds the letter in. It does not represent the
working class because people of this category would
stereotypically have small kitchens. Therefore, this
mistake was not conventional to the genre.

5. Where did we meet/challenge
them? ACTORS
O The majority of our actors (excluding Josh
Macqueen and Nick Heywood) do not have any
experience in acting or experience in filming.
Therefore, as they are non-professional actors
(unpaid) we have met this convention of our
genre. We hoped to highlight the idea of our film
being realistic and portraying the gritty nature by
using inexperienced actors or those who might
have entered film via cross-media. In addition,
this also supports the idea of a Independent
British Film Company; they are unable to afford
popular actors as their budget is quite low.
Therefore, we met the convention.

6. Where did we meet/challenge
them? ACTORS (cont.)
O An example of cross media is an actor in ‘Tyrannosaur’
produced by Warp Films (which is our chosen production
company) called Olivia Coleman who then also had a
television and theatre career.
O Shane Meadows discovered Thomas Turgoose through
auditioning in a Nottingham school for his film ‘This is
England’, produced by Warp Films. He would also of had
to gained stock actors (such as Paddy Considine who
was associated with Warp Films) which is a process our
production company would have to undergo, if in reality,
of auditioning.

7. Where did we meet/challenge
them? MUSIC
O The non-diegetic tones of our music are rather
poignant as it refers to various points in the film’s
narrative. I think this worked really well due to the
absence of lyrics which renders it ambiguous and
did not ‘give too much away’ for the sophisticated
audience in an opening sequence. This therefore
makes you focus solely on the visuals, evoking
sympathy for the protagonist as we comprehend his
neglect; the audience gain personal identity while
having an emotional response. This creates a high
level of verisimilitude as the themes are relatable
and score connotes emptiness and no equilibrium
which reflects the gritty and hard-hitting nature of
the film.

8. Where did we meet/challenge them?
WIDER SOCIAL ISSUES
O I think our narrative/opening sequence explores
the wider social issues of society well to meet
the convention. The themes of drugs, neglect,
adoption and fear are including and are common
issues that are present in modern day society
and are experienced by people from all walks of
life. However, there reason why we chose
alcohol instead of drugs was because it is more
relevant to modern day. The viewers because
are thus able to actively consider their viewpoint
(and chose the dominant reading) on these
issues which also gives them social interaction.

9. Where did we meet/challenge
them? CLASSES
O In addition, I think we haven’t really presented
people from a range of classes rendered from
the income brackets. For example, if Josh was to
be categorised he would appear in the E income
bracket (the lower working class), yet this is the
only income bracket we show as the business
man (Nick) would appear in the A-C1 income
bracket (seen as middle/lower class) but is only
featured to create a binary oppostion. Therefore,
we both meet and challenge the stereotype of
only starring people in lower income brackets.

10. Where did we meet/challenge
them?
O I think that we were not stereotypical enough in representing lower
income bracket issues, i.e we may have left it too ambiguous for an
sophisticated audience who question media stereotypes. For example,
the stereotypical representation of the working class being alcohol
addicts was conveyed by the appropriate props of empty beer cans but
also a quick take of the flashback connotes the cans are a normal
appearance to the protagonist. This suggests that, stereotypically, it is a
regularly re-occuring crime committed by people in the working class. I
think that we could of met the stereotypes more by showing more vivid
media representations such a peer pressure or bullying instead of just
the three flashbacks. Therefore, this could of connoted the neglect of
the protagonist and determination to eradicate the negativity in his life
(although I think Josh’s facial expression during these takes suggests
this, but improved editing could of presented this better. However, in
hindsight, perhaps we were very stereotypical i.e having an authoritative
man as the business man. This might detract our sophisticated
audience who like to se ideologies challenged.

11. Where did we meet/challenge
them? EDITING
O I think we have followed the convention of
minimal editing techniques in order to
establish realism and verisimilitude.
However, due to the more complex
narrative structure of flashbacks, we had to
establish between different time lapses.
Therefore, we decided to use the filter
‘Bloom’ to connote the stigma from the
protagonists parents.

12. Form conventions- Opening Credits
O This is the conventional order for the opening credits:
O Name of studio
O Production Company
O Producers/Directors
O Actors
O Film Title
O Casting Director
O Music
O Film Editors
O Producer
O Director

13. Where did we meet/challenge
them?
O An opening sequence is designed to
attract and engage its audience and
introduce the genre, themes, narrative and
characters. This is shown with our use of a
shot at the beginning showing the
protagonist walking in the urban location of
a city. Through the long shot we are able
to familiarise our self with the location.

14. Where did we meet/challenge them? CREDITS
O For our production, ‘Reflux’ we followed
the convention of an opening credit order,
For example, we featured the actor’s
names in the middle with the producers
and distributors as the first titles. This kept
the audience engaged. Despite following
the convention, I think the order isn't too
important, just as long as it is flows
‘smoothly’.

15. Where did we meet/challenge
them? SCRIPT
O Our script was very limited due to the most
of the sequence being overlaid by the
melodic score. We removed most dialogue
to heighten the verisimilitude. However, the
dialogue between the mother and father is
semi-improvised to meet the genre
convention which made the characters
interaction organic and natural. This makes
the film less corseted and false, possibly
adding a more serious overtone.

16. Could we have used them better?
O I think that through either the script,
iconography or shot types, we could have
conveyed a more wider range of social
issues such as political problems i.e those
relevant to economy, as our production
included people from higher class
backgrounds which are stereotypically
thought to have high incomes.

17. Evaluation- FONT
O Our font is strong and bold to connote the
side of strength from Levi Strauss’ binary
oppositions which is a key theme throughout,
linking to the inner determination of Ethan has
to find his father, despite the neglect he has
had; presenting him to be a mentally strong
person. This therefore creates a complex
narrative for our sophisticated audience.
Therefore, I feel that our font was successful.

18. Institutional conventions
A convention of our institution is that usually film in a regional setting. We adhered
to this by filming at Leicester train station which is regional to where my group is
based and is a regional setting in a county. This is a convention because of the low
budget in independent film and therefore we cannot film on deluxe, exotic, abroad
locations.
Another convention is co-production, which is a trend currently in British film, with
other small independent production companies for example, Screen Yorkshire.
This is an example of a production company that we could have used to co-
produce with to be more conventional and have better funding sources instead of
relying on just one production company.
Another convention independent institutions produce content for a niche target
audience. We therefore adhered to this convention because we were dealing with
hard-hitting issues due to not having responsibility to a parent company demanding
mass market content and box office profit, but merely a small independent
production company.

19. Institutional conventions
O Because of the low budget of our
institution, we had below-the-line
marketing campaign with a heavy
presence on social media for digital
natives as our institution is not horizontally
integrated. We also will rely on newspaper
reviews as a way of marketing for the
older, sophisticated audience. Therefore,
we meet this convention.

20. Theories applied to our production
O AUTEUR THEORY
O This theory derives from the idea that the director reflects
his vision in the film; the auteur has their own visual
style. For example, in our opening sequence we used
takes showing Ethan’s fear and isolation i.e the
juxtaposition between close ups and very long shots
suggest his wavering state of emotions whilst also
making our sophisticated audience more tense when
viewing the film. These shots connote that Ethan’s issued
are most overlooked by society and his relatives, possibly
outlining the social issues. We have shown our own
visual style by our distinctive titles and our flashback
structure/ fragmented narrative, as part of our
auteurship); being placed on certain objects by key
framing and distorting them.

21. Theories applied to our production
O NARRATIVE THEORY
O The theory suggests that each film has a structure
defined by Todorov’s equilibrium. If we apply this to our
production the narrative is as follows:
O Equilibrium: Ethan living his life as normal with his family
O Disequilibrium: Ethan’s mother passes away and his dad
turn to alcohol for comfort
O Recognition: Social services notices this problem and
puts Ethan in foster care and finds the letter
O Reparation: Ethan travels to his fathers address
O New equilibrium/resolution: There is no resolution in our
film as it is rather bleak and will meet the conventions of
our genre.

22. Theories applied to our production
O REALISM THEORY
O Theory suggests that we must try to present things
‘as they really are’ and portray the lives of people.
For example, we have achieved this by using fictional
conventions such as a semi-improvised scripts and
we have highlighted social issues like associations of
alcoholism with the lower classes which have
achieved the status of being ‘realistic’ in our film. We
have also included the conspiracy theory through
Ethan’s blame towards his parents and the rules of
organisations such as social services via individual
psychology which is also a convention we meet.