This is the revised version of my first question for the evaluation :) enjoy!!

1. By Jack Archer
Evaluation Question 1...

2.  For our genre of social realism, these were the conventions that we
wanted to either adhere to, or challenge:
 Locations are either mainly urban or in the suburbs.
 Use of debut/ stock actors (who may have entered films cross media from other
forms).
 Music from the era (i.e. Present day).
 The plot should have a realistic approach/ perspective to lives of those
concerned.
 Having characters that appear to be in the lower working classes (i.e. In the D2/
E income bracket).
 Evidence of the exploration of wider social issues through the emotional or
dramatic stories of characters.
 Possible erosion of regional identities
 The inclusion of both humour and seriousness and also triumph over adversity.

3.  Generally, our locations were conventional to the genre, as we included shots in a high
street environment and also a city centre park. Thus, we were able to optimise our
interpretation of expressing various ideologies.
 Also, the majority of our actors (excluding Liam Wilkinson and Rosie Jones, who are
debut film actors, but are stock stage actors.) do not have much experience of acting.
All of our actors certainly did not have any experience in filming. Therefore, as they are
not professional actors (i.e. Are not paid for their service) and we have met this
convention. In addition, as the majority of our actors are school aged (16+) this reflects
the process that our production company would have to undergo in the real life. For
example, our actors would have to first audition for their roles, like how Shane
Meadows did when he found the actor Thomas Turgoose, after auditioning kids in
Nottingham school for his film ‘This is England’ (By Warp Films).
 Furthermore, we used modernised music to reflect the setting of the film, as we
produced a rendition of a rendition (!) of the song “We Own It” from the film “Fast and
Furious 6” (2013), consequently keeping our opening sequence conventional to the
genre of using music associated with the time setting, thus generating a high level of
veri- similitude. This process in itself, is unconventional as in the real world, we would
use synergy marketing (i.e. having Rosie who played our protagonist as our artist and
rapper and consequently guaranteeing cross-media production.)

4.  In addition, I feel that our narrative has adhered to the
convention of it being realistic particularly due to the rise of
peer pressure and bullying. As Laura joins the gang to
initially make new friends, she is then peer pressured into
committing criminal offences such as theft. Which is
possibly a common situation for people in the working
class. Furthermore, as our production is a sophisticated
product, we have questioned stereotypes which relate to
our present political climate, which we ask our primary
audience to question. For example, at the end of our whole
narrative, Laura is sentenced to jail as a result of the joint-
enterprise law. As this law is currently under discrepancy,
this further connotes to the injustice of the law as opposed
to the reality of working class young people.
 What's more, I feel that our narrative/ opening sequence
explores the wider social issues within society quite well.
The inclusion of bullying, fear and peer pressure are
common issues that arise and are experienced by people
from all walks of life and therefore, I believe that Laura in
our narrative is relatable to many people as well, as our
audiences are able to decide whether to actively consider
their viewpoint on these issues for social interaction, or
simply gain personal identity from Laura/ The opening
sequence (according to Blumer and Katz’s uses and
gratifications.)

5.  Finally, I believe we have shown people from various classes
as according to the Income brackets, if the characters were
actual people, the gang members and Laura would mainly
be categorised as those in the D2/ E income bracket (the
lower working class) and the policeman for example would
be seen as middle/ lower middle class (the B/C1 income
brackets).

6.  Most opening credits follow this common conventional
order:
 Name of studio
 Production Company
 Producers/ Directors
 Starring...
 Film Title
 Casting Director
 Music
 Production designer
 Film Editors
 Directors of Photography
 Producer
 Director
 (Based on... True story/events, the novel by etc.

7.  An opening sequence is designed to instantly engage its
audience and should introduce, genre, narrative and character.
This is particularly evident with our use of conventional
establishing shot of our inner city location and the police
station. This example of a binary opposition with locations
 For our production “The Longing” we in a way challenged the
convention of opening credit order. This is because throughout
our research, planning and production, we used the film “This is
England” for inspiration and subsequently, we used a similar
opening title sequence to “This is England”. This was mainly
because this film is of the same genre as our film.
 Despite this not following the convention, I don’t think that the
order is necessarily important, as long as the order makes sense
and ‘flows’.

8.  Although the script was limited due to the majority of the opening
sequence being overlaid with our rendition of “We own It”, I feel that
our script could have been improved either by including more serious
and/ or humorous text or even have sections of semi- improvised
dialogue in order to make character interaction appear more natural
and realistic and more conventional to the genre of social realism.
 Following on from this, through either the script, iconography or shot
type the opening sequence could have introduced more political/ social
issues such as those relevant to race and cultural differences, as our
production included people of different ethnicities.

9.  Furthermore, I feel that we also should have included more hand- held
shots in order to promote the ideologies relevant to our female
protagonist in particular, and aid to connote certain emotions too.
 Generally however, although I think that the genre social realism is
appropriate for our opening sequence, as our narrative includes
criminal offences driven by peer pressure, I think that the conventions
of the genre crime should have been considered as well, with its
conventions also.

10.  Here are the two main theories that applied best with “The
Longing”:
AUTEUR THEORY: As this theory derives from the idea that a film
reflects a Director’s vision and is a unique idea, this shows that our production
is also unique, especially as we have a female protagonist as our main character
and our production goes against common conventions of our genre.
HEGEMONY THEORY: Due to the nature of our narrative,
Hegemony is also relevant to our production, particularly as we have a female
protagonist passive audiences (such as people in the lower income brackets)
would initially believe the dominant ideologies present in the film, such as
women can achieve triumph over adversity like men can.