Question 2

           How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The soul character of the film, Emily, who is featured the most in my opening, is a homeless person. I present her as being deprived of wealth, shelter and also incredibly lost. This is shown by her being continuously on the move implying that she has nowhere in particular to go. The fact that in the entire second half of the opening she is alone with no contact with other creates a sense of isolation and that she is forgotten furthermore, I imply that the lack of wealth means she is an insignificant part of society.

Emily also belongs into the teenage social group. She is not presented as a stereotypical teenager but the innocence and vulnerability of this social group is constantly pushed upon the audience during the film. Ultimately, her weakness is portrayed particularly from the cuts and bruises she has is what suggests her to be vulnerable as audiences are led to thought that she has been led to be pushed around and/or has no physical strength thus is frail.

My character Emily is similar to ‘Joanne’s’ in ‘London to Brighton’ in that her vulnerability and innocence is continuously discussed. Particularly in ‘Kelly’s’ speech which she repeatedly says ‘she’s just a kid.’

 Left: Joanne

 Right: Emily 

Question 1

        In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? 

Titles

I have challenged the style of titles used in my genre of film which is social realist. In this genre of film there is often a plain black background used and the credits are written in a simple font such as serif, however. This is used to make it look like a decent amount of effort has gone into making the film. This has to do with the working class link social realist films generally have and the stereotype that the working class are lazy thus trying to challenge that thought. For my main titles I have used the main prop as the background reflecting on the importance of the diary in my film. Therefore, I have challenged the convention of titles that pertain to my chosen genre by using the title to create deeper meaning instead of just to present the main credits. I have followed the conventions of real films which have animations of the production and distribution company at the beginning. I chose to do this to make my opening look more professional rather than starting with no intro. I have also used the titles for the main credits, another convention.

Main title for 'Emily's Diary'     

Costumes and location

Costume designers will design costumes to define the character and reflect on their lifestyle so this is a crucial element in a film opening. I took advantage of this element of film to reflect on the character’s difficult lifestyle and to add to the gritty atmosphere that I have tried to achieve in the beginning. 

Emily's costume 

 

Firstly, I followed the convention of location shooting, often practiced. This is partially due to a low budget which British social realist films have but also filming on a real location adds to the sense of realism that most Hollywood films would only hope to achieve for their extensive use of film sets. An example of this in the British social realist genre is ‘Fish Tank’ which was shot on a real life council estate in London.

A shot from 'Fish Tank' with the council state in the background

In my opening there is a contrast of setting thus dividing defining the two sections of my film opening. The first is supposed to represent a middle classed setting showing off Emily’s past wealth, then her shown being chucked out and put into an outdoor, gritty lifestyle. I thought that a local park would be a good place to film as it is a public place and shows her lack of privacy. 

Homeless, outside, no home, no money

Ultimately, I have followed the convention of using costume and location to define the character.

 

Narrative

My film deals with similar issues that occur in other social realist films. Although it is not prominently obvious in the opening the cuts and bruises which my character possesses are actually from abusive characters thus foreshadowing her life in prostitution which is dealt with in films like ‘London to Brighton’ and ‘Lilya 4-Ever.’ Another reoccurring theme is social class which as noted prior, the different settings I have used indicate that this is going to be a topic looked at. The economic climate also plays a significant part in the story. This is particularly apparent in the opening as at the time of the opening Emily is actually homeless and surviving on an incredibly low amount of money. The fact that she is poor, like in real life, suggests that she is frowned upon by society. Furthermore, I have followed the conventions of the narrative of social realist films by dealing with reoccurring themes such as prostitution and putting them with typical character type of these films.

       

Sound update

I am using two classical pieces that reflect the mood of the distinctive halves. The first piece if called  Prelude in C Sharp Minor by Rachmininov which represents anger and dis pear of the first half.

Te second piece is called Prelude in E minor (opt. 28. no. 4) which to me is key to creating the depressive tone that I wanted to achieve in the second half of the film.

Editing update

I have come up with a new logo and name for my production company. My company is now called 'Royal Films' and the logo is a silhouetted picture of a London skyline which I altered using photoshop. For example, I created light rays across St. Pauls cathedral to make it look as though the sun was shining on it thus giving it a more realistic feel. Here is an image of my finished design. 

First Cut

Here is the first cut of my media project.

After having received critical feedback from my teacher I am now aware what direction I need to go in to improve my opening.

1) Sound
-Music: People thought that the music I had was too upbeat and in the wrong genre of film. I should have a more emotive piece. It was suggested classical would be a good genre to work with. If I were to make the whole film classical music would be a very important aspect to create emotion and make the audience sympathetic of Emily's character so I am glad I released I was using the wrong sort of music before it was too late as it would have been a missed opportunity to make the audience really feel for Emily.
-Ambient: I had ambient missing from my first cut as it had not yet been recorded. As it is a social realist film the sound is really important to create that realistic feel and as a consequence I did not create the gritty atmosphere I wanted my audience to experience.
-Voice over: Voice over is yet to be recorded. This will be the last thing to be done as each voice over clip will have to fit perfectly accordingly and there are still things I want to change regarding editing.

2) Editing
-Particularly the walking sequence. There were a lot of jumps and shots that weren't put together carefully enough thus making the audience feel distracted from the piece itself as they are being critical of the editing. I was also encouraged to include more effects.

3) Mise-en-scene
I-It is advised that I feel the argument again as the close are exactly the same as the last part of the scene which wouldn't make sense time wise. In the argument scene I need to get my actress wearing clear jeans and have her not wearing make up. I am also acting in this part and it was pointed out that I looked to happy. I need to be more serious when filming next.

Editing Update

I decided that I will have the credits overlaying the film clips as it saves me more film time. However, I will be keeping the film title 'Emily's Diary' as a stand alone screen. Also, I will be having a BBC Films animation to make it more professional.

Editing update

Here is a screen shot of where I am up to in the editing stage.

After completing the first draft of my coursework I have received some critical feed back particularly on my
 editing. The most difficult part of the editing stage the first time was for me the part where she is walking up to the river. I found it difficult to get the continuity and specific angles right. So I have taken some inspiration from 'Reservoir Dogs' which helped me to give this part of sequence a natural flow. 

Reservoir dogs 

A film directed by Quentin Tarantino, 'Reservoir Dogs' has one of the most iconic openings of all time simply for it's sheer class. This is the first shot in the sequence

This features the men walking forward with the camera on the sidelines. I have included a similar shot to open the walking sequence with Emily walking forward whilst the camera is looking at her from the side giving the audience an outsider perspective. 

My last example is the section when there are close ups of each of the men walking towards the camera. This is significant as it gives the audience a closer insight to their character. I have done this similarly in my opening again to get the audience closer to the character and to make them feel like they are inside the film.

Effects 
Video 
Page turn: Used during the main title credits again reflecting on the fact that this story comes from a single book

Dissolve: Used in the first shot after the titles

Fast blur out: I used this to create a ghostly atmosphere possibly foreshadowing future events

Fade to black: To close the scene

Audio 
Where the dialogue will start I have lowered the pitch. I feel that the music in this scene is crucial as it really lowers the mood and whilst in the middle section I want the dialogue to be the main subject regarding sound I feel that if I took the music out it would not have as big as an emotional impact on the audience thus not sympathising as much with the character. I also did this with ambient sound so it would not be too overpowering. Lastly, I used the cross over fade at the end of the scene to help create a sense of closure.