Evaluation Question 1 Script

Film

In order to make my film a successful media product, I had to draw some inspiration from real media products in order to ensure that my film fit the codes and conventions of a short film.

A short film is usually defined by its length - which is usually 5 to 40 minutes long. My brief in particular specified a 5 minute film, so I based my research around this film length, watching films such as 2am: The Smiling Man and Thomas to understand the codes and conventions of a film approximately this length and to decided on my own genre. I found that these films often had a maximum of three characters to ensure development and an understanding between the characters and the audience. A minimum amount of locations were also used during these films in order to reduce confusion and the disorientation of the audience, whilst making the film as successful as possible within the time constraints. Short films also typically include a message or purpose - a theme to get across to the audience. I tried to include each of these codes and conventions in my own film by limiting my characters, location and by introducing a message to my film. Following this, I completed further research into genre-specific films to draw inspiration from.

My short film is based around a protagonist with an eating disorder. This representation was inspired by a Netflix original film, To The Bone. To The Bone focuses on the experience of young adults in an unconventional inpatient recovery programme. The film was directed by Marti Noxon who has claimed in numerous interviews that her intention behind the film was to ‘start a conversation’ around the disorders, which she felt was avoided due to stigma and misunderstanding. My own film follows a young girl who has been diagnosed with anorexia, but has been in recovery for quite some time. The representation of my film is aimed at raising awareness of eating disorders and at breaking the stigma surrounding eating disorders that all sufferers have to be underweight. I also wanted to present the effect that mental illness can have on the family unit in addition to the individual, which is something that is also emphasised in To The Bone. I also wanted my film to have a positive and optimistic ending similar to To The Bone so that the fate of Jess can be interpreted by each member of the audience as they wish.

A Social Life uses the theory of identity in its editing in order to enlighten and inform the viewer of the effects that social media can have on the mental health of its user. The utilisation of editing enhances the viewer’s experience by allowing them to see the protagonists social media feed and the images they upload to their own profile. This offers the representation that people feel they are required to document their life and experiences on social media, to portray themselves as someone with a ‘perfect’ life that their followers should envy. The film’s editing also goes further to demonstrate that the protagonist finds that her life is dominated by social media, by spending hours on end scrolling through her feed and deliberating on whether or not to upload a particular image. I want to use the editing in my own film to help the audience get a better understanding of the complexity of an eating disorder. I wanted to use social media in a similar way to that of A Social Life and so I decided to add tweets and quotes from the ‘thinspiration’ feed that Jess scrolls through in the opening sequence of the film over the top of the scenes of her body checking. I decided that I wanted to do this as I wanted the audience to see the negative opinion that Jess has of herself and her low self esteem and the way that both of these impact on her relationship with food and exercise.

The utilisation of shot-reverse-shot editing in Empty contributes to its narrative and helps to demonstrate the emotions brought up in the therapy scene. This utilisation was effective in demonstrating the therapist’s professionality and her concern for Keira, in addition to the hard feelings and emotions that are brought up for Keira during the conversation. This use of editing is effective as it helps to develop Keira as the character in addition to creating empathy within the audience for Keira’s struggles and suffering. Empty also effectively uses camera angles to portray Keira’s emotions and feelings throughout the film. The use of close ups and long shots represent Keira’s despair and depression, whilst representing how insignificant and weak she may feel. I wanted to utilise close up shots in my film to really demonstrate things that were important, such as: Jess’ body dysmorphia, her plans to go to university and the emotions that are brought to light in her therapy session. I also used a combination of mid and long shots in order to represent how Jess thinks of herself, and feels insignificant and worthless.

I’m beautiful also utilises camera angles and editing to develop the narrative and to develop the impact of the narrative on the audience. The editing offers the opportunity of flashbacks to really demonstrate the lengths and difficulties that the protagonist has gone through to feel ‘beautiful’. These flashbacks include extreme acts such as purging, cosmetic surgery and laser eye surgery, all of which the protagonist goes through to meet society’s standards. These flashbacks have a strong influence on the audience, making them feel uncomfortable and really emphasising that you cannot judge a person solely on their appearance, as you do not know their whole story and the struggles of their everyday life. This further inspired me to use social media to help represent the way that Jess’ mental illness affects her everyday life, from her routine of scrolling through the ‘thinspiration’ tag upon waking up to the effect that it has on her perception of herself when she looks in the mirror. I think the use of a cut from Jess’ exercise routine to her refusing to eat an apple for her dad demonstrates the effect and toll that Jess’ illness is having on every aspect of her life, therefore supporting the message of my film that you do not have to be underweight to be suffering with an eating disorder, and that you therefore cannot judge a person’s health or wellness on their appearance alone.

Whilst the sound used in the Mrs.Potato Head music video is primarily music and vocals, the lyrics did have an impact and inspiration for my own film. The lyrics present a very similar message to that of I’m beautiful, in that people in society - predominately women - go through extreme measures to meet the ideals of the people around them, especially that of their romantic partner or members of the opposite sex. The song also presents the idea that cosmetic surgery is becoming the ‘norm’ as so many people go through it each year. However, Martinez - the songs writer and performer - has stated during interviews that her intention behind the song was to ask those considering cosmetic surgery and those who have gone through it: “why are you doing this when you’re already beautiful?”. This heavily inspired my film, as throughout the film it is implied that Jess’ eating disorder stemmed from a desire to meet the standards of society, and the extreme lengths she has gone through is putting herself at risk.

Barry Keith Grant theorised that sub-genre is useful in helping the audience understand the product, and is represented through the mise-en-scene of a media product, which is conformed to by the short film Identity. Identity is a dystopian-drama film in which all of the characters wear different coloured masks as part of the mise-en-scene to represent the futuristic society that the film is taking place in. This, when matched with a much more traditional drama mise-en-scene of a high school - clearly presents the genre and sub-genre of the film to the audience, whilst conforming to Grant’s theory. I attempted to conform to this stereotype, by making it clear that my film was from the ‘mental illness’ sub-genre through the use of the mise-en-scene. Scenes of Jess scrolling through ‘thinspiration’ feeds, exercising excessively and going to therapy clearly demonstrate to the audience the type of film that they’re watching. I kept the locations in which I filmed very relatable and as realistic as possible in order to create a sense of normality and realism, so that the audience felt they could relate to the film, even if they were not fully understanding of the illness.

Stereotypes and expectations are frequently used in mainstream media, however, the short film Inspire attempts to break and counter these stereotypes. During the film, a woman is on her laptop looking at the news where Muslim men are being presented as a threat or danger to society. When she reaches a train station and sees a Muslim man, she believes the opinion of the mainstream media and doubts that he would offer her any help due to his cruel nature. The man breaks the dominant ideology that all Muslims are ‘evil’ and a ‘threat’ to society by offering the woman assistance and demonstrating kindness, presenting the concept that mainstream media can sometimes mis-represent groups of society in a negative light. I was inspired to do something similar in my own film; I wanted to break the stigma and dominant ideology that everyone with an eating disorder is underweight. Commonly, films that feature a character suffering with an eating disorder hire actors who are very slim or underweight to conform to this ideology. I countered this expectation by casting an actress of a much healthier weight to play a character who is suffering with the same difficulties that someone who is underweight with an eating disorder might experience.  

Poster

In order to create a promotional package for my film, I had to design a poster for my short film to boost the popularity of my film and to stimulate interest in my film. Typically, posters include the films title, a key image or photograph, the lead actors names in a large or bold font, the awards the film has won, and the films credits. Short and Independent film posters tend to me much more quirky and stylistic than Hollywood blockbuster posters. They are much more abstract and less focused on star power. The title of short films tend to take up the vast majority of the composition, with a more anonymous image included so that the film is more intriguing and the plot is not given away. I was inspired particularly by the posters for Raise My Hands and Iris, who used a more unconventional method of including an image of an object important to the films narrative rather than using a photograph of one of the actors. I did not want to use a photograph of any of the actors because I really wanted the poster to intrigue and entice the audience; make them wonder ‘what is the meaning behind this? What is the film about?’. In order to get these questions asked, I took photographs of one of a nutritional shake and used Adobe Photoshop to edit the bottle so that my film’s title would be wrapped around it. I thought that this looked effective and of higher quality and professionalism than putting text over a photo of an actor, and I felt that it would make the audience more interested in the film and its narrative.

Review

The promotional package for my film also had to include a review. I researched film reviews and found that the majority included a photo or still from the film itself, a tagline for the image, the films title, a brief summary of the film including release details, credits and a ‘main body’ - the review itself. After researching into film magazines, I decided that I wanted my film review to be based off of Sight and Sound - a film magazine that focuses on a more critical analysis of the film rather than a humorous or entertaining review. This critical analysis expands the potential audience of the review, allowing it to reach film and media students in addition to older and more mature adults with an interest in the film industry. Sight and Sounds layout typically contains the film’s title followed by details on its release, the reviewers name and the main body of the review. The image/still of the film reflects the seriousness of the review - using close ups or mid-shots which imply that the review gets straight to the point. A credits and synopsis section is also included at the end of the review. Sight and Sounds review structure and use of colour is consistent in each of its magazines, so I ensured to stick to this structure in my own review. I created the layout for my review and the review itself in Adobe Photoshop, using margins, text boxes and shapes. I made sure to stick to the themes and context of Sight and Sound in order to make the review successful.