This Is Me - Genre

In the first shots of ‘This Is Me’ the semantic codes suggest to the audience that this short film's genre would be of something more serious than what is to come i.e. a documentary. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_film) 

The semantic codes in 'This Is Me' suggest perhaps a documentation or drama. From Rick Altmans theory, we can say that we associate paricular objects with a meaning. And these meanings can portray the genre.
(http://www.slideshare.net/robertclackmedia/genre-theory-7086744) 

The setting of 'This Is Me' shows a hospital room:

• the opening shot is a close up of some sort of pump to assist the patient - from this we associate that somebody is seriously ill and in hospital and therefore we would be expecting to see a film with action or drama. 
• With some sort of 'incident' that has occured, 'This Is Me' is a hybrid film; it contains more than one particular genre.
• Along with the diegetic sound of heavy breathing, the audience are lead to be sure of the genre being portrayed. 

The titles then change our view on the genre. This element almost 'softens' the environment as the text is white (connoting purity) and is rounded and not so bold and alert, which means the viewer may start to question the genre. 

Syntactic codes are conventions that fit into narrative and genre. For any genre these include:

• Themes
• Character relations
• Binary oppositions 
• Narrative endings
• Narrative disruptions

Along with the colloquial voice over, the women's body language acts as a semantic code to let us know that the film is comical:

• Her facial expression is unimpressed and the close up of her setting a timer shows that being there isn't much of a priority. 
• Her nails indicate that she likes to look after her appearance. 
• The focus pull of the two shot shows the two characters binary opposition which in this case can be seen as amusing as they appear so different; the women being quite slim, wearing a lot of make up and sparkling jewelry - and the male character appearing to have quite a large physique. The binary opposition are a syntactic code that portrays comedy.
• The close ups of his feet and stomach at the beginning show the contrasting characters (binary opposition) as he looks less groomed. This is a syntactic code as it works with the semantic codes to help decide on a genre.

Steve Neale's theory of repetition and variation can also be applied to 'This Is Me':

He proposed that each genre film repeats conventions of the genre formula whilst also making new variations. The conventions of this film that make it a comedy are:

• the binary opposition between characters
• sarcastic narration/voice over
• the atypical accident that occurs

Mix Tape - Audience

For the short film 'Mix Tape' I think that the target audience would be British women and men aged between 30-35 within the social grade of B-C2:

The reason for me believing this film is for a British audience is the name 'Morrissey' printed on the newspaper -  he was an English singer and song writer and later a member of the English band, The Smiths.This therefore means that it will reach a greater audience within the UK as his name is more widely known.

This is also reinforced by the song played (non diegetic/diegetic) as it is by British band, The Kinks. This band were known between the years of 1983 - 1996 so helps to chose the age category for 'Mix Tape'.

Due to the focal point of this short film being the 'mix tape' that the character has created, I think the audience would be in the age category of between 30-45. The reasoning for this is because I think the audience trying to be reached is one which are familiar with the concept i.e they grew up in the same time period as the characters shown in the film, and therefore would be familiar with what a mix-tape actually is.

I have chosen the social class to be B-C2 because the platform of which this short film would be watched is mostly likely to be online, which they would then have access to so that they can view it. 

The location of the film would also be more relatable to somebody of this class as the houses are terraced/duplexes, which would be suitable for somebody of B-C2 to live in as they are not extremely private or fancy, but also not too low class, for example, council flats. 

The relationship between the two characters is shown through the music; they both have similar taste in music, making this film suitable for both men and women as it focuses on the relationship between two people which can be relatable for both sides. 

Lovefield - Narrative

Restricted narration is used throughout the short film 'Lovefield' to try and mislead the audience on what is happening in the story. (Plot & Story)

The are several action and enigma codes. These are (as proposed by Roland Barthes) are things that cause active engagement for he audience and make them question and answer a queerie. Or something that allows us to try and predict the plot by something telling us action will take place.

The first enigma code that we see is the black bird; they are symbolically associated with mystery and the unknown and also darkness. 

The knife stabbing into the ground is an example of an action code as it can help to predict the plot - it could connote violence to come ahead. The bloody material mislead somebody to think that rape has occured.

Todorov's theory of classic narrative can be applied to 'Lovefield' as a linear structure (with closure) has been used.

The first stage of Todorov's theory is Equilibrium:

A flow diagram of Todorov's Theory.

From 'Lovefield' I would identify stage one (the equilibrium) as being the first few opening shots, i.e. the pan of the cornfield, the bird perched on the signpost. As of this point, nothing has occurred to cause any sort of disruption. 

Stage two of this short film is when the disruption has occured; I believe this is when the props of the bloody material, the mobile phone with the constant tone, and the knife become present. This is because the audience now know that something has happened as these objects all convey a tense atmosphere. 

Stage three of Todorov's theory is confrontation. In 'Lovefield' it is not necessarily a recognition of the disruption, as so far in the film, the audience do not know that this man is actually trying to help, and is the story's protagonist. The male character becomes flustered and runs to his car rummaging for something to aid the women, which would be the recognition of the event, however the viewer does not yet know this, making this not an omniscience film for the viewer. 

Stage four is resolution (disruption and problems are solved):
The man eventually finds a towel and runs back over to the women left in the field. The audience then realise that he is actually the protagonist in the film, and by handing the women the towel the situation has been resolved. 

This therefore creates stage five, the new equilibrium. The new normality is that this women has now given birth to a new character and our views on the plot of the film have been changed from the beginning stages. The tracking movement of the camera shows an extreme long shot and the music changes to softer tones which creates a more relaxed feel and shows closure. 

Criticism of our thriller film - Stephens post

AWhen looking back on the final product of the finished thriller film opening, I have made a fair few criticisms about the film which could have been improved. If i had to select one main criticism it would be attention to mise en scene when relating to character clothing. As you can see in the finished product,  the clothing of the protagonist and antagonist is very basic and not thought through as thoroughly as is could have. The antagonist was wearing a black coat with black jeans on. This way meant to convey that he was in fact,  a mentally ill being who has escaped from a psychological prison and is unsafe to be in the eye of the public. However, the clothing in which we selected was not thought through anywhere near as well as it could have. In agreement with the rest of the group, we decided that the costume of the antagonist, is not suitable for the character that he was meant to be playing. Attention to detail on this kind of character is something we must get absolutely right. 

When we look back on this error, we have re-thought of what the antagonist should have been wearing. The conclusion that we had come to is that he should have been wearing an orange/blue jumpsuit, something that you would stereotypically find in prison. This would have been far more suitable as it would have given a far greater understanding to the viewers of what was happening in this film, to a more precise degree.

Silent Things - Representation

A two shot shows who we assume to be the two man protagonists standing on the beach flying a kite. Both characters remain still and quiet whilst watching it fly, suggesting that perhaps they do not know what to say to each other.
People with a disability can stereotypically be seen to have difficulties with social interaction and this is implied with a close up shot of the girl. She is shown fiddling with her hair connoting that she is shy and perhaps closed off or disconnected - representing her disability. 

The focus pulls used whilst the two are preparing the kite allows us to see their facial expressions which with both of them appear to be very vacant suggesting that they are in their own little bubble or their thoughts are drifting which perhaps connotes that this social group like to keep themselves to themselves or are even just lonely.

The feeling of being alone is reinforced by the location. The beach appears to be quite isolated as not many people are to be seen which could represent how the two protagonists feel and why they enjoy going there - they like to be alone.  

When the next female character appears, a binary opposition is created with the difference in ability and disability:

She isn't phased by what others think - she is confident.

• she casually walks over with no hesitation, conveying her confidence.
• her clothes have colour and print to them contrasting to the male wearing darker, more simple clothes, creating a representation of him to be a less expressive and closed person. 
• The absence of dialogue as the second female character approaches the male, further suggests his quiet persona and how this is an unusual situation for him. 

The shot reverse shot and eyeline match when the first female character begins walking over to the others allows us to see her concern over what is happening as the medium close up and close up enable us to see her facial expressions; which appear to be concerned and worried. 

A 3 shot then shows the three characters together on the beach; the girl asks: "who is this?" and "how can she be your friend already?". Her speech is slightly stuttered (suggesting her disability), and she closes her eyes implying that she is uncomfortable with the situation which puts the audience in the situation to sympathise with her.  Throughout that small small part of dialogue, her body language shows her to look insecure i.e. constantly looking at the ground and trying to avoid eye contact with the other girl, also suggesting she may feel intimidated by her, further showing the binary opposition. 

During dialogue between the two characters, we learn that the man has a lot of knowledge about ferries to which the girl asks if he wants to join her. He appears hesitant as he uses the word 'maybe' suggesting it is something out of his comfort zone, but is also however quite naive and quickly agrees to go along with her which reinforces his disability as he hasn't fully thought about what he is about to do.  

A cut is the used to show the other female character from a close up side profile showing her to be stroking her neck and also talking under her breath to herself which demonstrates her disability - she is feeling alone and only has herself to be with.

Once aboard the ferry, we can see that the man begins to feel uncomfortable. This is through the use of close ups to see his facial expressions.

The contrast between the man and other passengers on the ferry is shown by cut transitions showing other people to be doing normal things. Ambient noise is present to begin with but then we begin to hear a non-diegetic voice which echoes and is whispered to suggest he is hearing things inside his head which portrays his vulnerability and that he's uncomfortable.

The audience may feel sympathy for the male character as the girl who appeared to be friendly and interested now says: "I met him today on the beach, and he wanted me to get on the ferry with him" which is a lie. She could have been using him and are made to feel sorry for him. 

The over the shoulder shots and two shots with the police alongside the music further enforce sympathy - his body language make us believe that he is in either mental or physical pain.