Evaluation Question One
In what ways does your media product use develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
In this question I aim to illustrate how my film, Then We'd Be Happy, uses, challenges or develops forms and conventions of real media products. I will do this by comparing the three research films I studied- Shaun of the Dead, Moonrise Kingdom and Shifter. Looking at their particular use of media language, representation and narrative to communicate, challenge or develop forms and conventions from the genre of the film or style and the auteurs individuality.
Shaun of the Dead was a huge inspiration for my final product five minute film. The director Edgar Wright highlighted three main elements that I wanted to include in my film.
Firstly, the importance of a good funny script. Wright was praised across the board once the film was released for his hilarious script, and true to life dialogue. Wright created exchange between characters that not only people could relate well to as it was finding the 'funny' in the everyday, but it also relaxed the audience into the genre of comedy, thus being able to handle the insane idea of zombies roaming London much easier. I was going to make a comedy film with an underling current of horror/apocalypse, then the script did not only have to communicate humour to the audience but the subtle theme of 'the end of the world' had to be intertwined underneath the comedy. I wanted the actors to be comfortable and confident in a script that they could understand and easily portray as naturally as possible. If my script achieved this then the same effect would be made on the audience as was in Shaun of the Dead, an ease from the comedy so the actual idea of 'the end of the world' is easier to digest and believe.
1) An example of using humour to relax the audience when something strange or frightening is happening from Shaun of the Dead
Secondly, locations, Wright had set his film in London, seeing as his film was made for a British audience this was clear relatable aspect for the audience. This normality of location made the zombie part of his rom-com-zom much more resonate as people could see what their world would look like if such a thing were to happen. I wanted to do the same for my audience, thus using a real location of a normal lounge style room in a house. All props were sourced with the idea of what would a normal person keep near to them if the end of the world happened, so the room was entirely covered in tin cans of food, towels, matches, blankets, pots and pans etc.
1) The location of my film (Home) 2) The location of Shaun of the Dead (London)
Thirdly, relateablity of characters and their relationships. Wrights narrative is interesting to evaluate seeing as other aspects of his film follow the traditional conventions of a zombie/horror style film such as the use of non digetic sound to create tension etc. However the characters and their narratives seem to hold tighter to the romantic comedy idea, with the aim for Shaun of getting his girlfriend back, and he must change his ways in order to do that. Their is a slight deviation as the real 'love' story is held between Shaun and his best friend Ed, as he is unable to let go even when Ed becomes a zombie himself. This strange turn on romantic comedy actually has the effect of a deeper relatablity for the audience and the characters as it is familiar yet slightly changed. I wanted this for my five minute film as I as an audience member enjoy a film more when I can identify and create a kind of relationship with the characters portraying the narrative. Therefore the development of my characters became very important for me and the script was written only once I had fully thought of the characters and their back stories.
1) My three characters (Helen, Gaby and Dan) 2) Ed and Shaun
I used and developed all of these aspects that I took as inspiration from Edgar Wrights Shaun of the Dead. I believe they translated successfully and made up much of the comedy, horror/apocolape genre that I was trying to communicate. I will also be challenging the Shaun of the Dead editing style as I will keep mainly to long takes instead of the famous swipe cuts and quick editing style Wright is so renowned for.
The second film I researched was Moonrise Kingdom by Wes Anderson. This film was a inspiration in much more a visual composition than the actual narrative, unlike Shaun of the Dead. There were two major influences that Anderson portrayed in his independent romantic comedy film.
Firstly was the composition of each shot, meaning the mise en scene and framing of each shot in this film. It was widely said once the film was released that if the audience were to pause the film at any given moment it would look like a artistic photograph. This comes from elements that I could not achieve, such as an idyllic location and hand plucked beautiful Hollywood actors. Yet I could take inspiration from the props and general set design, whilst keeping the relatable location of a normal, mundane lounge room. Therefore each prop that was picked was arranged specifically to look organised and strangely interesting, regardless of the fact that it was a simple normal tin can for instance. Deciding to only use to angles in my film was a decision inspired by the beautiful, uncomplicated framing in Moonrise Kingdom. Anderson keeps a minimalist theme running throughout the film and I wanted to maintain this as I felt it compelled the audience to focus on the characters and narrative, rather than be distracted by constant changing camera movements.
Firstly was the composition of each shot, meaning the mise en scene and framing of each shot in this film. It was widely said once the film was released that if the audience were to pause the film at any given moment it would look like a artistic photograph. This comes from elements that I could not achieve, such as an idyllic location and hand plucked beautiful Hollywood actors. Yet I could take inspiration from the props and general set design, whilst keeping the relatable location of a normal, mundane lounge room. Therefore each prop that was picked was arranged specifically to look organised and strangely interesting, regardless of the fact that it was a simple normal tin can for instance. Deciding to only use to angles in my film was a decision inspired by the beautiful, uncomplicated framing in Moonrise Kingdom. Anderson keeps a minimalist theme running throughout the film and I wanted to maintain this as I felt it compelled the audience to focus on the characters and narrative, rather than be distracted by constant changing camera movements.
1) A shot from my final product 2) A shot from my final product
3) A shot I took inspiration from in M.K 4) A shot I took inspiration from in M.K
Secondly and probably the biggest decision as an editor was taking heavy inspiration from the shot length of each scene. From my research into Moonrise Kingdom one can notice that many of his shots go further than the normal length of a camera shot. This is a clear hint towards the films independent roots as this deviates from the traditional studio system romantic comedy genre films. I enjoyed this way of viewing cinema, it compelled the audience to again focus on the narrative. Yet this was clearly challenging on the grounds of continuity and keeping interest in the film itself.
1) An example of the long shot lengths in Moonrise Kingdom
I used and developed all of these aspects that I took as inspiration from Moonrise Kingdom by Wes Anderson. I believe they helped me create a film that was more visually appealing whilst communicating the comedy, horror/apocolape genre that my film was aiming for.
My third research film was the short film Shifter by Ben Parker. Whilst I did take aspects from Shifter as inspiration, they were mainly reinforcements of the others, such as normality and relatablitiy of protagonist minimal editing etc. However there was one element which only Shifter could truly show me. This was how to create an entire storyline in a limited amount of time.
Shifter is only eight minutes long including credits and therefore was an excellent example of how to produce not only a storyline in such a small amount of time but also one that leaves the audience questioning and wanting to see more of. This is where I began to explore my character of the mime artist further. There is an unexplained but clearly important character that runs throughout Shifter, essentially managing and controlling the protagonist It is unclear whether this character fits into the good or evil category and this mystery complells the audience to want to know more and develop him as a character. I wanted something very similar in my film, as the concept of the mime artist was just one to introduce the film at the beginning once I had seen Shifter and analysed it I realised that a character like this adds a new layer to the film and also reinforces a horror/apocolpyse vibe into the funny script.
1) The mime artist character that I took inspiration from Shifter to develop.
I used and developed the aspect of a unexplained character in my final product after taken inspiration from the short film Shifter by Ben Parker. I believe the film helped me not be afraid that there will be unanswered questions in my narrative, whilst still being able to communicate a narrative that fit into the comedy, horror/apocolape genre that my film was aiming for.