Evaluation Question 1: In what way does your media product use,

develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

By Megan Vincent

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 shotsO Non-professional actors i.e debut/stock actorsO Semi improvised scriptsO Characters in lower working classes i.e D-E income

bracketsO Possible of removal or regional identitiesO Presentation of social issues by emotional and

individual stories i.e plot should have a realistic approach

O Triumph over adversity

Conventions of institutions: British Independent Film

CompanyO Seek support of other companies in

co-production and distributionO Companies lack vertical integrationO Challenge conventionsO Have a small budget regarding actors

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Form conventions- Opening Credits

O This is the conventional order for the opening credits:

O Name of studioO Production CompanyO Producers/DirectorsO ActorsO Film TitleO Casting DirectorO MusicO Film EditorsO ProducerO Director

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.

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’.

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.

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.

Evaluation- FONTO 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.

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.

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.

Theories applied to our production

O AUTEUR THEORYO 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.

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 addressO New equilibrium/resolution: There is no resolution

in our film as it is rather bleak and will meet the conventions of our genre.

Theories applied to our production

O REALISM THEORYO 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.