This is the same slideshare as the previous one I have blogged about the first evaluation question. However I have included some images, and screenshots from our actual opening sequence "The Longing".... just so it looks a bit more interesting! :)
2. For our genre of social realism, these were the conventions that we
wanted to either adhere to, or challenge:
Locations are either urban or in the suburban areas.
Use of establishing shots.
Use of Non- professional actors.
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) did not have much experience of acting. But, 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) we have met
the convention of using non- professional actors.
Furthermore, we used present day 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.
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.
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 a relatable
character 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.)
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).
5. 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.
6. 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’.
7. 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.
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.
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 research into the genre crime
should have been considered as well, with its conventions also.
8. 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.
