Component 1 Critical Reflection By Liam Stokes Component 1 Critical Reflection

How does your product use or challenge conventions? Throughout this film we both challenged and used conventions that are commonly found in movies in this genre We challenged common conventions by: Starting our film at the end of the movie We used common conventions by: Beginning our movie with a drastic scene Using multiple types of shots to develop the setting Using text to break up the shots

Challenging conventions One way our film opening challenged conventions was starting the film at the end of the movie and then going back to the beginning We chose to use this uncommon technique because it is a unique way to build meaning and create curiosity in the audience This technique allows us to show the audience what happens at the end of the movie without giving away what will happen throughout the rest of the movie Using this technique means that the rest of the film would be a flashback from the narrators point of view unraveling the story of his murder Using this technique is uncommon however it is used in some films such as Forrest Gump or Fight Club

Using conventions We also used the common conventions found in our genre like starting our film with a dramatic opening By using this technique we quickly grasp the audiences attention by and increase their curiosity because they want to know who died? how did this happen? who did it? This technique is extremely common for our genre of crime and mystery for instance it was used in all three of the films we researched Lila and Eve, Irobot, and The DaVinci Code In each of these opening scenes someone was in a life threatening situation that immediately grasps the audience’s attention

Using Conventions Close Up Pan Point of View Shot Tilt Zoom Throughout our film we also used a variety of shot types and camera movements to further develop the setting, characters, and plot of the film We used a combination of shot types and movements including We also included other techniques like shallow depth These filming techniques allows us to focus the audiences attention on certain characters our objects Using shot types and movements to develop meaning is used every great movie because it is extremely useful for creating meaning and introducing important contributions to the plot Close Up Pan Point of View Shot Tilt Zoom Master shot Reverse Zoom Aerial shot Two shot

Using conventions We also used text to break up the shots of our crime scene In between every two or three shots we included text with of a production company’s name or contributor’s name By using text in our film it gives credit to those who deserve it and it separates the shots so we jump to different areas of the crime scene more smoothly Text is used in most movies in this genre including Irobot which is used to state the robot laws and contributor’s to the film

How does your product represent social groups or issues? Our film represents the following social groups: High school students It represents high school students because our film is about a successful high school student who is murdered by his peers A majority of our actors and characters where high school students Our project represents the following issues: It represents the issue of Jealousy and murder It represents jealousy and murder because it is a film about how jealousy caused someone to be killed

How does your product engage with audiences? Our film engages with the audiences by using filming techniques like the POV shot We used the POV shot to have the audience feel more involved like they are in the actual movie We also based our movie around our targeted audience’s age range of teenagers from 15-18 years old to make it more personal and relatable to them The biggest way are film engaged with the audience was by breaking the fourth wall using a direct address This direct address makes it feel like the character is speaking directly to each individual watching the film and makes it feel like they are going through what happened together This technique is used in multiple movies and TV shows like the Emperors New Groove and House of Cards

How would your product be distributed as a real media text? We would release teaser trailers of the film on video sharing sites on YouTube to create anticipation for the release of the actual movie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGQ79PQOPB8 A majority of movies release previews of their movie online prior to the release date including Lila and Eve Irobot The DaVinci code We might also distribute it by releasing it at film festivals so we can attract attention

How did your production skills develop throughout this project? My production skills developed through making this film because I learned a lot of new skills and developed my previous ones further Creating this film helped me develop my editing skills immensely because I helped edit the film I learned how play shots backwards and overlap different shots so you could see them both at the same time I also Learned how to insert a voiceover into the film using the editing software Adobe Premiere Pro I did not gain much filming experience because I was acting in a majority of the shots however I did gain acting experience because I was the main character in the film

How did you integrate technologies in this product We integrated technologies in this project by using multiple websites like YouTube and WordPress We also integrated technologies by using the editing software Adobe premiere pro to edit our video In addition we also used the canon rebel t3 18-55 mm lens to film the opening scene to our film