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Evaluation Activity 1
Evaluation Activity 1
Conventions
Conventions are the widely recognised way of doing something
which is to do with the content, form and style. Much like codes,
there are also types of conventions Technical conventions and
Genre conventions and written and sound conventions.
Dilini Gorsia
Dilini Gorsia
At
the
beginning of the year I had put together a range of ideas including
a thriller, a drama, and a romance but in the end I decided to go
with a hybrid genre and join my idea for my drama with the idea for
my romance and fix up any flaws in the narrative in order to fit it
into a five-minute piece. The general synopsis of the film revolves
around two girls and their confrontation following a tough break up
and cheating scandal. Steph, an 18-year-old sixth form student
and Natasha, a 19-year-old university student have the allimportant climatic conversation in order to decide where to take
their relationship next. Natasha was in fact found cheating on
Steph with her best friend Tia a number of times and continues to
blame Tia instead of herself. The audience are faced with the final
question as to whether the girls will fix their relationship or whether
its time for Steph to walk away from her unfaithful love interest.
Setting/ Location
The setting of the production was the library. This was due to the
fact that it reflects the age of the two main characters and shows
that theyre both students that are in some form of education. The
other locations used for the flashback scenes included the library
again, the park and the bathroom of Stephs house. These
locations were to put emphasis on how close the two girls were
Dilini Gorsia
Dilini Gorsia
this, it also showed the unity between the two girls as in the
flashback, they sat on the library floor together, reading the same
book, showing their relationship with one another as something
more than friends.
Editing
Editing is a vital part of any production as it plays a huge role in
putting together the final product. For example, if you were to try
and build tension between characters you would use slow paced
editing and sound effects gradually changing into fast pace editing.
Also, juxtaposition of shots is another part of editing as it helps
ensure the production has good continuity throughout and is in the
right order of events allowing the audience to make sense of what
is going on. The use of the flashbacks enabled us to create a
variety with the locations in order to meet the convention of using
diverse settings. As well as this, it also made the production more
interesting as it allowed the audience to see what the relationship
between the girls was like. The most used editing techniques
throughout the production were shot reverse shot and match on
action. The shot reverse shot was important as most of the scene
consisted of a conversation between the girls making it beneficial
as it allowed the audience to feel as if they were a part of the
conversation as well as bing able to see the facial expressions of
each character. Match on action on the other hand is important as
it emphasises the props and shows their importance through the
extreme close up. It also helps with continuity again as it enables
transitions to flow smoothly between scenes and locations.
Shot
Reverse
Shot
Dilini Gorsia
Characters
The representation of the main characters was arguably
stereotypical for example, the way both characters were dressed
was casual and rather young which accurately represented their
age. As well as this, the production also slightly went with Stuart
Halls idea of the white holding the
major roles, as Natasha and Tia
were one of my three characters
and also because of the fact that
Natasha cheated on Steph with
Tia. Furthermore, due to the fact
that this occurred it also goes with
Bell Hooks theory that there are colour codes and that lighter
skinned women are considered more desirable and fit better into
the western ideology of beauty i.e. Tia.
Narrative
The narrative of the production consists of a range of elements
and theories. For example, it could be argued that there is some
elements of Roland Barthes enigma code due to the fact that the
element of the story is not fully explained at the beginning and is
uncovered as the production continues. With an enigma code, the
purpose is usually to keep the audience guessing. An example of
this occuring happens right from the beginning when Natasha asks
Steph if they can talk. From this point onwards, the audience are
left guessing what she could possibly want to talk about. Also,
there are other points i.e. after the kiss where the audience are
unsure about the reactions and how the story will ultimately pan
out. Another narrative theory that is used is Claude Levi Strauss
binary oppositions. Although it isnt as obvious you could identify
the two girls as the antagonist and protagonist with one fighting for
love and the other showing hate. This is represented by Natasha
kissing Steph and Steph slapping her back. Even though Natasha
is trying to fix her mistakes her overall actions in the first place
show her off to be an antagonist.
Dilini Gorsia
Other aspects
Lighting The lighting throughout most of the production remained
fairly natural of high key. The main senes where the lighting
changed included the positive flashbacks e.g. the library and the
park. This was because in typical romantic dramas, high key
lighting usually signifies romance. This was especially important in
the flashbacks as they were used to show the love between them.
The lighting changes in these flashbacks was mainly done through
editing as filters were added in order to give the flashback scenes
a bright effect.
Sound for most of my production, the sound was generally
diegetic. For example, diegetic sounds that I used included things
like dialogue, reactions, the general atmosphere and footsteps as
the girls were walking up the stairs. These were all typical sound
effects used on most romantic drama productions. The only non
diegetic sounds that stood out was the score music however it
didnt conform to the codes and conventions as much as it was
fairly slow and relaxed rather than tense and lively.
Finally, the production included mild action during some of the
scenes e.g. the slap and the park and bathroom flashbacks. As
well as this I think it also included one common theme by being
more of a summer drama as opposed to a kidnapping drama. It
was a summer drama as it was mainly set up over events that
happened during that time and was based around a love interest.
Conclusion
To conclude, I am extrememly pleased with how my final
production turned out as I feel that it has met most of the typical
codes and conventions of a romantic drama and has as good
narrative to match all the elements together perfectly.