A2 Media Questions 1

1. IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR
MEDIA PRODUCT USE,
DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE FORMS
AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL
MEDIA PRODUCTS.

2. NARRATIVE

3. Narrative - Claude Levi-Strauss
To begin with, when applying conventions to the narrative of our short film ‘Vanity’ it executes Claude Levi-Strauss’s idea of
‘binary opposites’ theory. Claude Levi-Strauss discovered that the way we understand certain words does not depend so much
on the meaning that they directly contain, but much more by our understanding of the difference between the word and its
‘opposite’ for example Boy vs Girl, Good vs Bad, Protagonist vs Antagonist, Man vs Nature etc. These examples of binary
opposites are the central climax of a narrative structure. Through this binary opposition theory was used to structure our film
Vanity. An example of binary opposition used in our film was a ‘Boy meet Girl’ scenario in other word the conflict between ‘Male &
Female’ and how both gender react to getting ready for a date.
In Vanity the 'boy meeting girl' scenario was shown throughout the whole film which give the audience a hint that they could be a
good match. This idea od the boy meeting girl was influenced by the film 'The Vow'. The Vow is a romance genre and it focuses
on boy meets girl scenario. In Vanity the 'male' protagonist is portrayed as normal, active, strong and quick. Since Vanity
emphasises on appearance and appearance being an obstacle. The female protagonist is completely opposite from the male
she’s passive, cosmetic, slow, and indecisive. The audience mainly focuses on the contrast and opposites between these two
characters and their takes on appearance.

4. Narrative - Todorov’s Narrative Theory
Secondly, since our short film is based on a romantic genre it follows Todorov’s Narrative Theory. Through this theory our short film
is able to match these given stages where the story begins with equilibrium(everything is balanced), which then progress as
something comes along to disrupt that equilibrium, and finally reach a resolution. In Vanity, Todorov’s five structures is shown:-
This narrative was influenced by film ‘The Vow’ because it focuses on the same romantic structure but not the ending. In ‘the vow’ it
starts off with Leo and Paige happily married, they went to the cinema and finding out it was snowing(equilibrium) while paige was in
the car she kisses him which caused accident(disruption). Leo wake u and sees that his wife is in coma(recognition). In order to repair
Leo tries to make her fall in love with him again and lastly the new equilibrium is Paige finding herself and falls in love with him again.
Although vanity follows the romance structure it doew not focus on the same narrative as The Vow. At the beginning of Vanity, the
male and female protagonist are introduced and are both accustomed with each other also the audience getting the idea of their
relationship, Which represents the Equilibrium. After the next day both male and female are both satisfied, the female protagonist
delays the date by going to the salon, doing her makeup etc. which brings Disruption to their date. The male protagonist then realizes
the female protagonist bringing the Recognition of Disruption e.g. calling and waiting for about 40 mins. However since the female
protagonist fail to listen she breaks the attempt to repairing the Disruption due to her allowing her appearance to be the main
obstacle of the film which damages the the attempt to repair a new equilibrium.
Although Vanity has not fully followed Toderov’s theory. It simply challenges his theory and provides a fresh twist to the romantic
story that's meant to happen.

5. CAMERA

6. There were various camera techniques used in Vanity
• 180 Degree Rule was used effectively and conventionally in our film through the use of Editing. One example would be
at the beginning of the play, The male protagonist is constantly at the left and female protagonist is at the right
throughout the beginning. This shows the stereotypical differences between both gender and is also shown through the
mise en scene because the camera instantly captures the differences between both teenage male and female what
they do in their spare time. This is also in The Hunger Games when Catiniss was saying bye to Primrose.
• Since ‘The Hunger Games’ focuses on Extreme close ups Vanity was influenced by it. In Vanity the extreme close ups were
used effectively in the kitchen scene and getting ready scene.

7. • Framing was used when the female protagonist was going to the cinema. The female is placed in the center of the shot
on her phone shows how the framing technique is very subjective and the framing was influenced by the film The Third
Man.
• The medium shots created in our film was influenced by Titanic. In Titanic there were various medium shorts. The
medium Shots used permitted some of the background to be seen. This helps the audience to know where the character
is located at that particular moment e.g. the male protagonist is in McDonalds

8. SOUND

9. The sounds that were used in our film was influenced by ‘Clueless’. Since Clueless focuses on teenage lives the
sound techniques were quite similar to Vanity.
Vanity relies on a very little dialogue which means there will be more focus on non diegetic sounds and added
non copyright music this helps to create a clear narrative for the audience. My teammate and I both agreed that
a natural, acoustic soundtrack and instrumental music would suit the themes of this short film.
Non Copyright Music – Choosing Sound
• This track was from the YouTube channel Audio Library – No Copyright Music. The audio track was used to
introduce the female character getting ready. its soothing and calm music and it contrast with the scene very
well. The mood it create suggest the name of our short film ‘Vanity’. The music was inserted due to the lack of
no sound

10. • The second sound was a radio interview which was inserted in the kitchen scene. This interview inserted was
seen as a non diegetic sound. This was also used due to lack of sound.
• The third audio sound used was from SoundCloud, This was used in the getting ready scene. This audio was
used in that scene to show realism and female lifestyle. Majority female can relate to scene because of the
music many female play music while getting ready. In order to show realism a music was used.
Despite the reliance on music there is still some use of diegetic sound to remain considerate of conventions for
example the kitchen scene.