Fourth question of Critical Reflection

1. Research
Research was pivotal for me to get to know about the codes and convention
that various short films followed. The codes and conventions were
essential, because they were a kind of a guideline that made me think a lot
more about the elements used in my film.
The research involved subjects such as genre, characters, themes and
technical aspects of the film. This shaped the outcome of the final product.

2. After I fixed the genre as thriller, I watched two thriller shorts: The Last Note and
Closed Doors. Based on these films, I built up several elements. Some of these
elements are,
• The lead characters in all three films are very disturbed and flawed. They were so
at the start and they don’t change throughout the film. This is because all three
shorts focus on creating atmospheres, rather than develop an arc for the
characters.
• The displays of violence in the two shorts led to believe that it was effective at
revealing character as much as it was at creating tension. The aspects were
jealousy(The Last Note) and past trauma(Closed Doors).

3. • Claude Levi-Strauss’ Binary Opposition Theory is applied in my film. Adhitya is
the bad guy, the killer. Yeshwanth is the innocent guy who, although somewhat
rude, aptly fits into the shoes of a hero. This binary opposition is used to create
narrative and thematic conflict between the characters.
• Most short films have about 2-3 characters at maximum. I only had 3 characters
in my short film, with one playing a minor role.
• I followed the convention of having a twist in the ending, with the protagonist
killing his best friend. The other shorts also had twists. In ‘The Last Note’, the
protagonist dies and in ‘Closed Doors’, the protagonist attacked an innocent who
committed no crime.

4. • I used music to increase the effects of particular scenes. One piece of music was
used to give a creepy atmosphere and the other to make the scene feel intense.
• I used high angles and low angles to imply a sense of superiority, but this was
undermined by holding the camera, without cutting, on the person who is
actually dominating the other. I followed two conventions, with one used to
mislead the audience.

5. There were also conventions that I challenged in my work. These include:
• According to Todorov’s Theory, there must be a equilibrium, a disruption of the
equilibrium and a new equilibrium. But my film starts with a very brief moment
of supposed equilibrium, before being disrupted quickly. The tension doesn’t
settle even at the very end, hence there is no new equilibrium.
• Unlike the shorts I analyzed, which used an enigma code, I used a proairetic code.
The others were focused on building an atmosphere of mystery and I was focused
on building one of tension.

6. Postcard and Social Media Page
Conventions
I researched a few postcards to find the conventions involved. The conventions I spotted were:
image, director credits, award/nomination laurels and a review of the short film. I followed all of
these conventions accurately. I also added a business card type of layout for the back of the
postcard.
The same goes for the Instagram website. I conducted a research on one Instagram page of a
popular short film. Here too, I spotted some recurring patterns. They were: cast photos, Behind the
Scenes videos and photos, reviews and interviews. I followed all of these, except the interviews as
my short couldn’t reach that level of popularity. I also added film festival award nomination laurels
in addition, as they played the same role as reviews do. I followed the conventions accurately,
although I lacked in number of the posts.